García-Alcón AGonzález-Peñas JWeckx EPenzol MJGurriarán XCostas JDíaz-Caneja CMMoreno Ruiz, María del CarmenHernández Benito, Estefanía PatriciaArango López, CelsoParellada M2025-01-222025-01-222023-01-12García-Alcón A, González-Peñas J, Weckx E, Penzol MJ, Gurriarán X, Costas J, Díaz-Caneja CM, Moreno C, Hernández P, Arango C, Parellada M. Oxytocin Exposure in Labor and its Relationship with Cognitive Impairment and the Genetic Architecture of Autism. J Autism Dev Disord. 2023 Jan;53(1):66-79. doi: 10.1007/s10803-021-05409-70162-325710.1007/s10803-021-05409-7https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/115560Whether there is a relationship between oxytocin (OXT) use in labor and the risk of autism (ASD), and the nature of such relationship, is unclear. By integrating genetic and clinical data in a sample of 176 ASD participants, we tested the hypothesis that OXT is a marker for abnormal prenatal development which leads to impairments in the process of labor. OXT-exposed ASD had more obstetric complications (P = 0.031), earlier onset of symptoms (P = 0.027), poorer cognitive development (P = 0.011), higher mutation burden across neurodevelopment genes (P = 0.020; OR = 5.33) and lower transmission of polygenic risk for ASD (P = 0.0319), than non-exposed ASD. OXT seems to constitute a risk indicator rather than a risk factor for ASD, which is relevant for diagnostic and genetic counselling.engjournal article1573-3432https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-021-05409-7https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10803-021-05409-7https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34982326/https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10803-021-05409-7restricted access616.896AutismGeneticsObstetric conditionsOxytocin exposure in laborPsiquiatría3211 Psiquiatría