Associação entre o Polimorfismo do Gene do Receptor da Ocitocina (OXTR) rs2254298, níveis de ocitocina, estilos de apego e traços de personalidade em idosos

Abstract

Introduction: oxytocin plays an important role in the body, being also associated with the modulation of different aspects of social behavior. The way attachment bonds are established, configure mental representations about the other, impact relationships and appear to influence personality structuring. Some studies suggest that genetic variations may be associated with this cascade of events. However, investigations in this area are still scarce and inconclusive. Objective: to identify the association between oxytocin receptor gene polymorphism (OXTR rs 2254298), serum oxytocin levels, attachment styles and personality traits in a sample of elderly people from Porto Alegre. Method: quantitative, cross-sectional, descriptive and analytical study. Sample composed of 108 elderly people of both sexes, with age range between 60 and 87 years, patients of the Family Health Strategy in Porto Alegre / RS. The variables investigated were: sociodemographic, biochemical marker, attachment styles, personality traits and genotype. The following instruments were used: General Questionnaire of the Brain Aging Program - PENCE for sociodemographic data; Relationship Scale Questionnaire - RSQ for attachment styles; Neo Five Factor Inventory - NEO-FFI-R for personality traits; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay - ELISA for oxytocin level and Polymerase Chain Reaction and Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) for genotype. Results: a significant association was identified between oxytocin levels and safe attachment (p <0.05); between personality traits and attachment styles in the total sample and in both groups, analyzed separately. A significant difference was identified between attachment traits and styles in the relationship between men and women. A significant association was also identified between traits and styles of attachment with education level, in the total sample and in the group of women. Polymorphism was not significantly associated with any other variable. Conclusions: the results demonstrate an association between personality traits and attachment styles in the elderly, with the levels of oxytocin in this sample associated only with safe attachment. Even if, identified variations in the levels of oxytocin between the alleles, there was no significant difference. According to this study, there is no association between the OXTR polymorphism rs2254298 with any other variable.