The British journal of clinical psychology / the British Psychological Society
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Interpersonal dysfunction is central to borderline personality disorder (BPD). Recent research has focused on the role of oxytocin (OT) in BPD, particularly regarding associations of OT activity with symptoms, genetic polymorphisms of the oxytocin receptor coding gene (OXTR) in BPD, and experimental modification of interpersonal core problems of patients with BPD such as hypervigilance towards threat detection, mistrust, and non-verbal behaviour during social interaction by intranasal application of OT. ⋯ The study of oxytocin can contribute to the understanding of the neurobiology of borderline personality disorder. Oxytocin is critically involved in attachment security, and methylation of the oxytocin receptor may play a role in the epigenetic modulation of early adversity. The intranasal application of oxytocin may be a useful therapeutic adjunct to psychotherapy. Insecure attachment and childhood adversity may produce differential neurobiological effects on the oxytocinergic system in borderline personality disorder. There is insufficient knowledge of how oxytocin interacts with vasopressin, testosterone, dopamine, and serotonin, which are also important key players in the experience of social reward and stress responsivity. It is unclear whether or not oxytocin could be beneficial in preventing the intergenerational (non-genetic) transmission of borderline personality traits.