Schizophrenia and Neurodevelopmental Disorders Research Section, Douglas Hospital Research Centre, Montreal, QC H4H 1R3, Canada.
Department of Cognitive Neuropsychology, Tilburg University, 5037 AB Tilburg, The Netherlands.
Cells. 2021 Sep 14;10(9):2421. doi: 10.3390/cells10092421.
Epigenetic changes are associated with altered behavior and neuropsychiatric disorders and they modify the trajectory of aging. Maternal anxiety during pregnancy is a common environmental challenge for the fetus, causing changes in DNA methylation. Here, we determined the mediating role of DNA methylation and the moderating role of offspring sex on the association between maternal anxiety and children's behavioral measures. In 83 mother-child dyads, maternal anxiety was assessed in each trimester of pregnancy when the child was four years of age. Children's behavioral measures and children's buccal DNA methylation levels (, , and ) were examined. Higher maternal anxiety during the third trimester was associated with more methylation levels of the . Moderating effects of sex on the association between maternal anxiety and methylation were found for and CpGs. Mediation analysis showed that methylation of could buffer the effects of maternal anxiety on children's behavioral measures, but this effect did not remain significant after controlling for covariates. In conclusion, our data support an association between maternal anxiety during pregnancy and DNA methylation. The results also underscore the importance of sex differences and timing effects. However, DNA methylation as underlying mechanism of the effect of maternal anxiety during pregnancy on offspring's behavioral measures was not supported.
表观遗传变化与行为和神经精神障碍改变有关，它们改变了衰老的轨迹。孕妇焦虑是胎儿常见的环境挑战，导致 DNA 甲基化改变。在这里，我们确定了 DNA 甲基化的中介作用以及后代性别对母亲焦虑与儿童行为测量之间关联的调节作用。在 83 对母婴对子中，在孩子 4 岁时，在每个孕期评估了母亲的焦虑程度。检查了儿童的行为测量和儿童颊部 DNA 甲基化水平（、、和）。第三孕期母亲焦虑程度较高与更高的 水平相关。性别对母亲焦虑与甲基化之间关联的调节作用发现了 和 CpG。中介分析表明， 甲基化可以缓冲母亲焦虑对儿童行为测量的影响，但在控制协变量后，这种影响不再显著。总之，我们的数据支持怀孕期间母亲焦虑与 DNA 甲基化之间的关联。结果还强调了性别差异和时间效应的重要性。然而，怀孕期间母亲焦虑对后代行为测量影响的潜在机制 DNA 甲基化并未得到支持。
