Childhood stress impairs social function through AVP-dependent mechanisms

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Psychiatry
• Developmental Psychology

Background:

• Impaired social function is a hallmark of psychiatric disorders.
• Childhood adversity is a risk factor for mental illness, but its direct impact on social difficulties is unclear.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the role of early life stress in social dysfunction.
• To examine the involvement of oxytocin and arginine vasopressin (AVP) in stress-induced social deficits.
• To explore AVP's role in social behavior in a rat model and in humans with borderline personality disorder (BPD).

Main Methods:

• Utilized a rat model of pre-pubertal stress (PPS) to assess social behavior and AVP levels.
• Measured peripheral and central AVP in rats.
• Assessed social performance and plasma AVP in BPD participants with a history of childhood stress.

Main Results:

• Pre-pubertal stress in rats and childhood stress in BPD patients led to impaired social behavior and increased AVP expression.
• Administration of the AVPR1a antagonist Relcovaptan (SR49059) rescued behavioral deficits in stressed rats.
• AVP levels correlated with negative emotion recognition in BPD participants.

Conclusions:

• Early life stress contributes to social dysfunction.
• Arginine vasopressin (AVP) plays a mediating role in stress-induced social deficits.
• Targeting AVP pathways may offer therapeutic potential for social impairments linked to early life stress.