Interestingly, one of these DMRs included CpG sites close to the transcriptional start site of the OXT gene (encoding a precursor protein that is processed to produce oxytocin and neurophysin I) which the authors found to be altered in middle temporal gyrus specimens of AD patients, thus suggesting that altered peripheral blood methylation levels could mirror DNA methylation alterations in the brain tissues of AD patients [63]. This evidence concerns the gene OXT and Alzheimer disease.