Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Medicine Greifswald, Germany.
Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Medicine Greifswald, Germany; Institute for Community Medicine, University Medicine Greifswald, Germany.
Med Hypotheses. 2017 Nov;109:59-64. doi: 10.1016/j.mehy.2017.09.011. Epub 2017 Sep 18.
Traumatizing events are known to have consequences for the victim which may lead to the development of several well-known mental disorders. Recent research has shown that traumatic events may affect not only the victims' lives, but also that of their progeny. It is generally accepted that this transmission of trauma occurs through parental behavior; however as has been recently discovered, the effects of trauma may also be inherited due to induced alterations in gene expression. These changes, so called epigenetic modifications, illuminate the interaction between genes and the environment. In contrast to mutations, epigenetic alterations do not change the DNA code, but rather modify the DNA structure, thus being capable of regulating gene expression and in turn making it possible for an individual to genetically respond to environmental changes. There are four possible epigenetic mechanisms: paramutation, DNA methylation, posttranslational modification of histones, and non-coding RNA. All of these mechanisms can be found both in somatic cells and in germ cells, leading to the putative transmission of alterations upon fertilization. To date, little is known regarding the epigenetic inheritance of trauma in humans. In this review, we elucidate the hypothesis that males may transmit biological correlates of traumatization through the germline to their offspring. This model of epigenetic inheritance has been supported by some evidence from animal studies. Overall, by considering findings on the epigenetic inheritance of traumatizing events in other mammals as well as findings on epigenetic transmission of acquired traits in humans, it should be possible through future research to confirm the transmission of traumatic effects in humans. By doing so, new possibilities of trauma treatment through modulation of epigenetic pathways might arise.
创伤性事件已知会对受害者造成影响，可能导致多种已知精神障碍的发展。最近的研究表明，创伤性事件不仅会影响受害者的生活，还会影响其后代的生活。人们普遍认为，这种创伤的传递是通过父母的行为发生的；然而，正如最近发现的那样，由于基因表达的诱导改变，创伤的影响也可能是遗传的。这些变化，即所谓的表观遗传修饰，阐明了基因与环境之间的相互作用。与突变不同，表观遗传改变不会改变 DNA 密码，而是修饰 DNA 结构，从而能够调节基因表达，并使个体能够对环境变化进行遗传反应。有四种可能的表观遗传机制：基因转变、DNA 甲基化、组蛋白的翻译后修饰和非编码 RNA。所有这些机制都可以在体细胞和生殖细胞中找到，导致在受精时发生改变的潜在传递。迄今为止，人们对人类创伤的表观遗传遗传知之甚少。在这篇综述中，我们阐述了这样一种假设，即男性可能通过生殖细胞将创伤的生物学相关性传递给他们的后代。这种表观遗传遗传模型得到了一些来自动物研究的证据的支持。总的来说，通过考虑其他哺乳动物中创伤性事件的表观遗传遗传以及人类获得性状的表观遗传传递的发现，通过未来的研究有可能确认人类创伤影响的传递。这样，通过调节表观遗传途径来治疗创伤的新可能性可能会出现。
