Variation in the Oxytocin Receptor Gene Is Associated With Social Cognition and ADHD.

OBJECTIVE

Children with ADHD show substantial deficits in social cognitive abilities. Oxytocin, mediated through its specific receptor (OXTR), is involved in the regulation of social behavior and social cognition.

METHOD: The entire coding sequence of the human OXT and OXTR genes were sequenced to identify mutations and single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in 151 children with ADHD (ADHD-combined, n = 51; inattentive subtype, n = 50; ADHD-C plus conduct disorder [CD], n = 50; 11-18 years) and 100 healthy controls.

RESULTS

We examined the association of three detected SNPs of OXTR with social cognition deficits. A significant association was shown between the children with ADHD and children with CT/TT genotypes of rs4686302 (χ2 = 3.695; p = .037). ADHD children with CT/TT genotype for the OXTR rs4686302 performed significantly lower on the facial emotion recognition task than those with CC genotype.

CONCLUSION

OXTR rs4686302 polymorphism was shown to be a genetic marker in social cognition deficits in ADHD children.