Effects of Oxytocin Pathway Gene Polymorphisms and Adverse Childhood Experiences on the Recognition of Emotion in Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders

Objectives. To assess the role of interactions between oxytocin pathway gene polymorphisms and adverse childhood experiences (ACE) in deficits of the recognition of emotion in schizophrenia. Materials and methods. Patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorders (n = 699) underwent cognitive testing in which they performed a facial emotion recognition task. Patients were then genotyped for common polymorphisms in oxytocin pathway genes which have previously been associated with face perception: OXTR (rs53576, rs7632287), CD38 (rs3796863), and ARNT2 (rs4778599). The presence of ACE factors was assessed by review of medical records. Results. ACE was found in 49% of patients. Analysis of covariance with control for sex and age revealed an interaction effect between OXTR rs53576 and ACE on emotion recognition in patients (F = 11.51; p < 0.001; \({\upeta }_{p}^{2}\) ${\mathrm{\eta }}_p^2$ = 0.02). This effect remained significant when controlling for cognitive functioning and negative symptoms. Carriers of the A allele without ACE were worse at recognizing emotions than GG homozygotes without ACE (p = 0.039) and carriers of the A allele with ACE (p = 0.009). Conclusions. The present results are consistent with the role of the A allele (rs53576) in sensitivity to the characteristics of childhood experiences able to affect psychosocial development and are of value for further studies of the use of oxytocin to improve social cognition and social adaptation of patients with schizophrenia.