Oxytocin, vasopressin, and their crosstalk in sexually-dimorphic psychiatric conditions - PubMed

4 hours ago

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and anorexia nervosa (AN) show opposite sex differences in prevalence.
ASD is more common in males, while AN is more prevalent in females.
Both disorders share clinical features like social impairments and atypical eating patterns.
Comorbidity between ASD and AN is higher than expected, suggesting shared etiological factors.
Oxytocin and vasopressin are neuropeptides involved in social and feeding behaviors and exhibit sexual dimorphism.
These neuropeptides can interact with each other's receptors, producing overlapping and opposing effects.
The review explores oxytocin and vasopressin's roles in ASD and AN to explain their co-occurrence despite opposite sex ratios.

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