ArticleFrontiers in genetics2015
DNA methylation and single nucleotide variants in the brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and oxytocin receptor (OXTR) genes are associated with anxiety/depression in older women.
Article in Frontiers in genetics, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 49 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
49 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 98 citations in OpenAlex.
- A systematic review of methylome-wide associations with anxiety disorders.Translational psychiatry · 2026Pooled it
- Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) epigenomic modifications and brain-related phenotypes in humans: A systematic review.Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews · 2023Pooled it
- The role of oxytocin receptor gene (OXTR) DNA methylation (DNAm) in human social and emotional functioning: a systematic narrative review.BMC psychiatry · 2018Pooled it
- The oxytocinergic system in functional neurological disorder: Preliminary testing of associations with interoception and childhood trauma.Comprehensive psychoneuroendocrinology · 2026Article
- Investigating PeripheralBiomolecules · 2026Article
- An epigenetic framework for understanding contextual influences on neural and socio-emotional development: Narrative review and case-study of the oxytocin receptor.Developmental cognitive neuroscience · 2026Review
- Parental Psychological Control, the Parent-Adolescent Relationship, and Non-suicidal Self-Injury Among Chinese Adolescents: The Moderating Effect of the Oxytocin Receptor Gene rs53576 Polymorphism.Child psychiatry and human development · 2025Article
- Peripheral DNA Methylation of Cortisol- and Serotonin-Related Genes Predicts Hippocampal Volume in a Pediatric Population.Biological psychiatry global open science · 2025Article
- The impact of the early environment on oxytocin receptor epigenetics and potential therapeutic implications.Pediatric research · 2025Review
- The dynamic relationship of brain-derived neurotrophic factor and oxytocin: Introducing the concept of neurosocial plasticity.Neuroprotection (Chichester, England) · 2025Review
- Salivary oxytocin and amygdalar alterations in functional neurological disorders.Brain communications · 2025Article
- Role of sexually dimorphic oxytocin receptor-expressing neurons in the anteroventral periventricular nucleus on maternal behavior.Peptides · 2024Review
- Impact of physical exercise on the regulation of brain-derived neurotrophic factor in people with neurodegenerative diseases.Frontiers in neurology · 2024Review
- Mild internet use is associated with epigenetic alterations of key neurotransmission genes in salivary DNA of young university students.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- The role of epigenetics in anxiety disorders.Molecular biology reports · 2023Review
- Relationship between BDNF and oxytocin.Comprehensive psychoneuroendocrinology · 2023Article
- Roles of the Oxytocin Receptor (OXTR) in Human Diseases.International journal of molecular sciences · 2023Review
- Involvement of oxytocin receptor deficiency in psychiatric disorders and behavioral abnormalities.Frontiers in cellular neuroscience · 2023Review
- New Frontiers in Neurodegeneration and Regeneration Associated with Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor and the rs6265 Single Nucleotide Polymorphism.International journal of molecular sciences · 2022Review
- Oxytocin receptor gene methylation as a molecular marker for severity of depressive symptoms in affective disorder patients.BMC psychiatry · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundEnvironmental effects and personal experiences could be expressed in individuals through epigenetic non-structural changes such as DNA methylation. This methylation could up- regulate or down-regulate corresponding gene expressions and modify related phenotypes. DNA methylation increases with aging and could be related to the late expression of some forms of mental disease. The objective of this study was to evaluate the association between anxiety disorders and/or depression in older women and DNA methylation for four genes related to anxiety or depression.
methodsWomen aged 65 and older with (n = 19) or without (n = 24) anxiety disorders and/or major depressive episode (DSM-IV), were recruited. DNA methylation and single nucleotide variant (SNV) were evaluated from saliva, respectively by pyrosequencing and by PCR, for the following genes: brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF; rs6265), oxytocin receptor (OXTR; rs53576), serotonin transporter (SLC6A4; rs25531), and apolipoprotein E (APOE; rs429358 and rs7412).
resultsA greater BDNF DNA methylation was observed in subjects with anxiety/depression compared to control group subjects (Mean: 2.92 SD ± 0.74 vs. 2.34 ± 0.42; p= 0.0026). This difference was more pronounced in subjects carrying the BDNF rs6265 CT genotype (2.99 ± 0.41 vs. 2.27 ± 0.26; p= 0.0006) than those carrying the CC genotype (p= 0.0332); no subjects with the TT genotype were observed. For OXTR, a greater DNA methylation was observed in subjects with anxiety/depression, but only for those carrying the AA genotype of the OXTR rs53576 SNV, more particularly at one out of the seven CpGs studied (7.01 ± 0.94 vs. 4.44 ± 1.11; p= 0.0063). No significant differences were observed for APOE and SLC6A4.
conclusionThese results suggest that DNA methylation in interaction with SNV variations in BDNF and OXTR, are associated with the occurrence of anxiety/depression in older women.
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