Prenatal stress exposure, oxytocin receptor gene (OXTR) methylation, and child autistic traits: The moderating role of OXTR rs53576 genotype.
Jolien Rijlaarsdam, Marinus H van IJzendoorn, Frank C Verhulst and 4 others
PMID 27520745WHAT IT FOUND
Prenatal stress linked to higher autistic traits, but did not change OXTR methylation.
In children with the GG genotype, higher OXTR methylation predicted more social communication problems. This interaction was not seen in children carrying the A allele.
Key findings
01Prenatal maternal stress exposure was associated with higher child autistic traits but was unrelated to neonatal OXTR DNA methylation levels.
02A significant interaction existed between OXTR methylation and the rs53576 genotype for social communication problems, where higher methylation predicted worse scores in G-allele homozygous children but not in A-allele carriers.
03The study found no main effect for OXTR methylation or genotype alone on autistic traits; the effect was only visible when considering their interaction.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they found
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What it does not show
The effect sizes were small, and the study is explicitly described as hypothesis-generating. DNA methylation was measured only once at birth, so changes over time could not be assessed. The sample was ethnically homogeneous (European ancestry), limiting generalizability to other populations. Child outcomes and stress measures relied on maternal reports, which may introduce shared method variance. The study used blood samples as a proxy for brain methylation, which may not accurately reflect central nervous system gene expression.
Declared interests
Dr. Frank C. Verhulst is a contributing editor for the Achenbach System of Empirically Based Assessment and receives remuneration from it. The other authors declared no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not interpret the interaction between genotype and methylation as a clinically actionable predictor for individual patients. The effect sizes were small, the subgroup contrasts were not statistically significant, and the authors state the findings are hypothesis-generating and require replication.