Cocaine use disorder effects on blood oxytocin levels and OXTR DNA methylation

In collaboration with colleagues from Brazil and the USA, Rodrigo Grassi-Oliveira just published this article.

Substance use disorders have been associated with alterations in the oxytocinergic system, but few studies have investigated both the peptide and epigenetic mechanisms potentially implicated in the regulation of oxytocin receptor. In this study, the authors compared plasma oxytocin and blood DNA methylation in the OXTR gene between people with and without cocaine use disorder (CUD). They measured the oxytocin levels of 51 people with CUD during acute abstinence and of 30 healthy controls using an enzyme immunoassay. The levels of DNA methylation in four CpG sites at exon III of the OXTR gene were evaluated in a subsample using pyrosequencing.

Souza MS, Sanvicente-Vieira B, Zaparte A, Baptista T, Nagai MA, Mangone FR, Pavanelli AC, Viola TW, Grassi-Oliveira R

Neurosci Lett. 2023 Sep 29;816:137506. doi: 10.1016/j.neulet.2023.137506