Abstract
Oxytocin (OT) circuitry plays a major role in the mediation of prosocial behavior. Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are characterized by impairments in social interaction and communication and have been suggested to display deficiencies in central OT mechanisms. The current preregistered meta-analysis evaluated potential group differences in endogenous OT levels between individuals with ASD and neurotypical (NT) controls. We included 18 studies comprising a total of 1422 participants. We found that endogenous OT levels are lower in children with ASD as compared to NT controls (n = 1123; g = −0.60; p = 0.006), but this effect seems to disappear in adolescent (n = 152; g = −0.20; p = 0.53) and adult populations (n = 147; g = 0.27; p = 0.45). Secondly, while no significant subgroup differences were found in regard to sex, the group difference in OT levels of individuals with versus without ASD seems to be only present in the studies with male participants (n = 814; g = −0.44; p = 0.08) and not female participants (n = 192; g = 0.11; p = 0.47). More research that employs more homogeneous methods is necessary to investigate potential developmental changes in endogenous OT levels, both in typical and atypical development, and to explore the possible use of OT level measurement as a diagnostic marker of ASD.
Highlights
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a pervasive neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by deficits in reciprocal social communication and interaction, and by the presence of restricted, stereotyped and repetitive interests and behaviors [1]
While current diagnostic approaches do not involve any biomarkers, recent evidence suggests that core symptoms of social deficits featured in ASD might be associated with oxytocin (OT) dysfunction in the central nervous system [3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10]
Parker et al (2017), for instance, found that the therapeutic effect of intranasal OT administration was strongest in those ASD children showing the lowest endogenous OT levels pre-treatment [18]
Summary
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a pervasive neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by deficits in reciprocal social communication and interaction, and by the presence of restricted, stereotyped and repetitive interests and behaviors [1]. In the central nervous system, OT is an important modulator of socio-cognitive functions and complex social behaviors (e.g., empathy, emotion recognition, attachment development and affiliative behaviors) through action in different brain regions (e.g., amygdala) [12,13]. Against this background, researchers have examined potential prosocial effects of intranasal OT administration, both in healthy individuals [14] and in clinical populations [15]. The current systematic review and meta-analysis aims at investigating whether there are differences in endogenous OT concentrations in individuals with ASD compared to matched NT controls across all ages
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