Wikenius Ellen, Myhre Anne Margrethe, Page Christian Magnus, Moe Vibeke, Smith Lars, Heiervang Einar Røshol, Undlien Dag Erik, LeBlanc Marissa
a Faculty of Medicine , Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo , Oslo , Norway.
b Child & Adolescent Mental Health Research Unit , Oslo University Hospital , Oslo , Norway.
Nord J Psychiatry. 2019 May-Jul;73(4-5):257-263. doi: 10.1080/08039488.2019.1613446. Epub 2019 May 9.
Prenatal maternal stress increases the risk of offspring developmental and psychological difficulties. The biological mechanisms behind these associations are mostly unknown. One explanation suggests that exposure of the fetus to maternal stress may influence DNA methylation. However, this hypothesis is largely based on animal studies, and human studies of candidate genes from single timepoints. The aim of this study was to investigate if prenatal maternal stress, in the form of maternal depressive symptoms, was associated with variation in genome-wide DNA methylation at two timepoints. One-hundred and eighty-four mother-child dyads were selected from a population of pregnant women in the Little-in-Norway study. The Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) measured maternal depressive symptoms. It was completed by the pregnant mothers between weeks 17 and 32 of gestation. DNA was obtained from infant saliva cells at two timepoints (age 6 weeks and 12 months). DNA methylation was measured in 274 samples from 6 weeks ( = 146) and 12 months ( = 128) using the Illumina Infinium HumanMethylation 450 BeadChip. Linear regression analyses of prenatal maternal depressive symptoms and infant methylation were performed at 6 weeks and 12 months separately, and for both timepoints together using a mixed model. The analyses revealed no significant genome-wide association between maternal depressive symptoms and infant DNA methylation in the separate analyses and for both timepoints together. This sample of pregnant women and their infants living in Norway did not reveal associations between maternal depressive symptoms and infant DNA methylation.
产前母亲压力会增加后代出现发育和心理问题的风险。这些关联背后的生物学机制大多未知。一种解释认为，胎儿暴露于母亲压力下可能会影响DNA甲基化。然而，这一假设主要基于动物研究以及对单个时间点候选基因的人体研究。本研究的目的是调查以母亲抑郁症状形式存在的产前母亲压力是否与两个时间点全基因组DNA甲基化的变化有关。从挪威小样本研究中的孕妇群体中选取了184对母婴。爱丁堡产后抑郁量表（EPDS）用于测量母亲的抑郁症状。由怀孕母亲在妊娠第17至32周期间完成该量表。在两个时间点（6周龄和12个月龄）从婴儿唾液细胞中获取DNA。使用Illumina Infinium HumanMethylation 450 BeadChip对来自6周龄（n = 146）和12个月龄（n = 128）的274个样本进行DNA甲基化测量。分别在6周龄和12个月龄时，以及使用混合模型对两个时间点一起进行产前母亲抑郁症状与婴儿甲基化的线性回归分析。分析显示，在单独分析以及对两个时间点一起分析时，母亲抑郁症状与婴儿DNA甲基化之间在全基因组范围内均无显著关联。居住在挪威的这一样本孕妇及其婴儿未显示出母亲抑郁症状与婴儿DNA甲基化之间存在关联。
