ArticleTranslational psychiatry2021
A multi-modal MRI analysis of brain structure and function in relation to OXT methylation in maltreated children and adolescents.
Article in Translational psychiatry, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 18 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
18 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 27 citations in OpenAlex.
- Multi-epigenome-wide analyses and meta-analysis of child maltreatment in judicial autopsies and intervened children and adolescents.Molecular psychiatry · 2026Pooled it
- How childhood adversity affects components of decision making.Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews · 2025Pooled it
- The oxytocinergic system in functional neurological disorder: Preliminary testing of associations with interoception and childhood trauma.Comprehensive psychoneuroendocrinology · 2026Article
- Longitudinal associations of DNA-methylation of OXT, SLC6A4 and NR3C1 genes with the treatment response in patients with depression.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Epigenetic Responses to Abusive versus Accidental Injuries in Children: A Cross-sectional Epigenome Wide Association Meta-analysis.medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2026Article
- The neurobiological effects of childhood maltreatment on brain structure, function, and attachment.European archives of psychiatry and clinical neuroscience · 2025Review
- Associations Between Myopia and Brain Volumes: An Observational and Genetic Analysis.Investigative ophthalmology & visual science · 2025Observational
- Assessing childhood maltreatment exposure using the child behavior checklist.Frontiers in child and adolescent psychiatry · 2025Article
- Salivary oxytocin and amygdalar alterations in functional neurological disorders.Brain communications · 2025Article
- Article
- Subclinical structural atypicality of retinal thickness and its association with gray matter volume in the visual cortex of maltreated children.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Unraveling the potential of vitamins C and D as adjuvants in depression treatment with escitalopram in an LPS animal model.Inflammopharmacology · 2024Article
- Evaluation of the pooled sample method in Infinium MethylationEPIC BeadChip array by comparison with individual samples.Clinical epigenetics · 2023Article
- Article
- Cross-tissue correlations of genome-wide DNA methylation in Japanese live human brain and blood, saliva, and buccal epithelial tissues.Translational psychiatry · 2023Article
- Overlapping brain correlates of superior cognition among children at genetic risk for Alzheimer's disease and/or major depressive disorder.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- Structural and functional MRI evidence for significant contribution of precentral gyrus to flexible oculomotor control: evidence from the antisaccade task.Brain structure & function · 2022Article
- Effects of intranasal oxytocin on neural reward processing in children and adolescents with reactive attachment disorder: A randomized controlled trial.Frontiers in child and adolescent psychiatry · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
10 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Child maltreatment dysregulates the brain's oxytocinergic system, resulting in dysfunctional attachment patterns. However, how the oxytocinergic system in children who are maltreated (CM) is epigenetically affected remains unknown. We assessed differences in salivary DNA methylation of the gene encoding oxytocin (OXT) between CM (n = 24) and non-CM (n = 31), alongside its impact on brain structures and functions using multi-modal brain imaging (voxel-based morphometry, diffusion tensor imaging, and task and resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging). We found that CM showed higher promoter methylation than non-CM, and nine CpG sites were observed to be correlated with each other and grouped into one index (OXTmi). OXTmi was significantly negatively correlated with gray matter volume (GMV) in the left superior parietal lobule (SPL), and with right putamen activation during a rewarding task, but not with white matter structures. Using a random forest regression model, we investigated the sensitive period and type of maltreatment that contributed the most to OXTmi in CM, revealing that they were 5-8 years of age and physical abuse (PA), respectively. However, the presence of PA (PA+) was meant to reflect more severe cases, such as prolonged exposure to multiple types of abuse, than the absence of PA. PA+ was associated with significantly greater functional connectivity between the right putamen set as the seed and the left SPL and the left cerebellum exterior. The results suggest that OXT promoter hypermethylation may lead to the atypical development of reward and visual association structures and functions, thereby potentially worsening clinical aspects raised by traumatic experiences.
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