Oxytocin and its paralogue, vasopressin, are widely studied biomarkers in relation to pregnancy and birth, maternal and social behavior, and mental health. Epigenetics is a biological mechanism that mediates the link between environmental influences and behavioral patterns. In a candidate gene approach, we describe here a DNA methylation assay of two regions within the oxytocin system, using human buccal cells and next-generation sequencing. Two nanograms of DNA were sufficient to assess the DNA methylation status of 28 CpG sites (22 corresponding to the oxytocin receptor and 6 corresponding to the vasopressin/oxytocin intergenic region). This method proved to be non-invasive for the participants, and reproducible; its validity remains to be confirmed alongside other biomarkers of gene function.
Keywords: DNA methylation; Epigenetics; Intergenic region; OXTR; Oxytocin; Saliva.
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