The DNA methylation landscape of the human oxytocin receptor gene (OXTR): data-driven clusters and their relation to gene expression and childhood adversity.

The oxytocin receptor gene (OXTR) is of interest when investigating the effects of early adversity on DNA methylation. However, there is heterogeneity regarding the selection of the most promising CpG sites to target for analyses. The goal of this study was to determine functionally relevant clusters of CpG sites within the OXTR CpG island in 113 mother-infant dyads, with 58 of the mothers reporting childhood maltreatment (CM).