Cargando…

Imaging oxytocin × dopamine interactions: an epistasis effect of CD38 and COMT gene variants influences the impact of oxytocin on amygdala activation to social stimuli

Although oxytocin (OT) has become a major target for the investigation of positive social processes, it can be assumed that it exerts its effects in concert with other neurotransmitters. One candidate for such an interaction is dopamine (DA). For both systems, genetic variants have been identified t...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Sauer, Carina, Montag, Christian, Reuter, Martin, Kirsch, Peter
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Frontiers Media S.A. 2013
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3612689/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23554586
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fnins.2013.00045
_version_ 1782264672548814848
author Sauer, Carina
Montag, Christian
Reuter, Martin
Kirsch, Peter
author_facet Sauer, Carina
Montag, Christian
Reuter, Martin
Kirsch, Peter
author_sort Sauer, Carina
collection PubMed
description Although oxytocin (OT) has become a major target for the investigation of positive social processes, it can be assumed that it exerts its effects in concert with other neurotransmitters. One candidate for such an interaction is dopamine (DA). For both systems, genetic variants have been identified that influence the availability of the particular substance. A variant of the gene coding for the transmembrane protein CD38 (rs3796863), which is engaged in OT secretion, has been associated with OT plasma level. The common catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) val158met polymorphism is known to influence COMT activity and therefore the degradation of DA. The present study aimed to investigate OT × DA interactions in the context of an OT challenge study. Hence, we tested the influence of the above mentioned genetic variants and their interaction on the activation of different brain regions (amygdala, VTA, ventral striatum and fusiform gyrus) during the presentation of social stimuli. In a pharmacological cross-over design 55 participants were investigated under OT and placebo (PLA) by means of fMRI. Brain imaging results revealed no significant effects for VTA or ventral striatum. Regarding the fusiform gyrus, we could not find any effects apart from those already described in Sauer et al. (2012). Analyses of amygdala activation resulted in no gene main effect, no gene × substance interaction but a significant gene × gene × substance interaction. While under PLA the effect of CD38 on bilateral amygdala activation to social stimuli was modulated by the COMT genotype, no such epistasis effect was found under OT. Our results provide evidence for an OT × DA interaction during responses to social stimuli. We postulate that the effect of central OT secretion on amygdala response is modulated by the availability of DA. Therefore, for an understanding of the effect of social hormones on social behavior, interactions of OT with other transmitter systems have to be taken into account.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-3612689
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2013
publisher Frontiers Media S.A.
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-36126892013-04-01 Imaging oxytocin × dopamine interactions: an epistasis effect of CD38 and COMT gene variants influences the impact of oxytocin on amygdala activation to social stimuli Sauer, Carina Montag, Christian Reuter, Martin Kirsch, Peter Front Neurosci Endocrinology Although oxytocin (OT) has become a major target for the investigation of positive social processes, it can be assumed that it exerts its effects in concert with other neurotransmitters. One candidate for such an interaction is dopamine (DA). For both systems, genetic variants have been identified that influence the availability of the particular substance. A variant of the gene coding for the transmembrane protein CD38 (rs3796863), which is engaged in OT secretion, has been associated with OT plasma level. The common catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) val158met polymorphism is known to influence COMT activity and therefore the degradation of DA. The present study aimed to investigate OT × DA interactions in the context of an OT challenge study. Hence, we tested the influence of the above mentioned genetic variants and their interaction on the activation of different brain regions (amygdala, VTA, ventral striatum and fusiform gyrus) during the presentation of social stimuli. In a pharmacological cross-over design 55 participants were investigated under OT and placebo (PLA) by means of fMRI. Brain imaging results revealed no significant effects for VTA or ventral striatum. Regarding the fusiform gyrus, we could not find any effects apart from those already described in Sauer et al. (2012). Analyses of amygdala activation resulted in no gene main effect, no gene × substance interaction but a significant gene × gene × substance interaction. While under PLA the effect of CD38 on bilateral amygdala activation to social stimuli was modulated by the COMT genotype, no such epistasis effect was found under OT. Our results provide evidence for an OT × DA interaction during responses to social stimuli. We postulate that the effect of central OT secretion on amygdala response is modulated by the availability of DA. Therefore, for an understanding of the effect of social hormones on social behavior, interactions of OT with other transmitter systems have to be taken into account. Frontiers Media S.A. 2013-04-01 /pmc/articles/PMC3612689/ /pubmed/23554586 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fnins.2013.00045 Text en Copyright © 2013 Sauer, Montag, Reuter and Kirsch. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in other forums, provided the original authors and source are credited and subject to any copyright notices concerning any third-party graphics etc.
spellingShingle Endocrinology
Sauer, Carina
Montag, Christian
Reuter, Martin
Kirsch, Peter
Imaging oxytocin × dopamine interactions: an epistasis effect of CD38 and COMT gene variants influences the impact of oxytocin on amygdala activation to social stimuli
title Imaging oxytocin × dopamine interactions: an epistasis effect of CD38 and COMT gene variants influences the impact of oxytocin on amygdala activation to social stimuli
title_full Imaging oxytocin × dopamine interactions: an epistasis effect of CD38 and COMT gene variants influences the impact of oxytocin on amygdala activation to social stimuli
title_fullStr Imaging oxytocin × dopamine interactions: an epistasis effect of CD38 and COMT gene variants influences the impact of oxytocin on amygdala activation to social stimuli
title_full_unstemmed Imaging oxytocin × dopamine interactions: an epistasis effect of CD38 and COMT gene variants influences the impact of oxytocin on amygdala activation to social stimuli
title_short Imaging oxytocin × dopamine interactions: an epistasis effect of CD38 and COMT gene variants influences the impact of oxytocin on amygdala activation to social stimuli
title_sort imaging oxytocin × dopamine interactions: an epistasis effect of cd38 and comt gene variants influences the impact of oxytocin on amygdala activation to social stimuli
topic Endocrinology
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3612689/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23554586
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fnins.2013.00045
work_keys_str_mv AT sauercarina imagingoxytocindopamineinteractionsanepistasiseffectofcd38andcomtgenevariantsinfluencestheimpactofoxytocinonamygdalaactivationtosocialstimuli
AT montagchristian imagingoxytocindopamineinteractionsanepistasiseffectofcd38andcomtgenevariantsinfluencestheimpactofoxytocinonamygdalaactivationtosocialstimuli
AT reutermartin imagingoxytocindopamineinteractionsanepistasiseffectofcd38andcomtgenevariantsinfluencestheimpactofoxytocinonamygdalaactivationtosocialstimuli
AT kirschpeter imagingoxytocindopamineinteractionsanepistasiseffectofcd38andcomtgenevariantsinfluencestheimpactofoxytocinonamygdalaactivationtosocialstimuli