Department of Epidemiology and Health Statistics, School of Public Health, Wuhan University, Wuhan, China.
Population and Health Research Center, Wuhan University, Wuhan, China.
Front Immunol. 2022 Aug 25;13:966522. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2022.966522. eCollection 2022.
Prenatal stress can affect pregnant women in an epigenetic way during the critical period of conception of their offspring. The study aims to investigate the relationship between peritraumatic distress, prenatal perceived stress, depression, and glucocorticoid receptor (NR3C1) DNA methylation among pregnant women who experienced COVID-19 lockdown in China. Study data were collected from 30 pregnant women in Wuhan and Huanggang, China. The Peritraumatic Distress Inventory was used to measure peritraumatic distress, the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale was used to measure depressive symptoms, and the Perceived Stress Scale was used to measure perceived stress. DNA methylation in the exon 1F promoter region of NR3C1 gene from the venous blood mononuclear cell genome was characterized by bisulfite sequencing. Correlation and linear regression were used for data analysis. The mean level of peritraumatic distress, perceived stress, and depression was 6.30 (SD = 5.09), 6.50 (SD = 5.41), and 6.60 (SD = 4.85), respectively, with 23.33% of pregnant women being depressed. The mean NR3C1 methylation was 0.65 (SD = 0.22). Prenatal depression was positively correlated with the degree of methylation in venous blood from the mother (r = 0.59, p = 0.001), and depression predicted methylation of NR3C1 gene at the CpG 8 site (β = 0.05, p = 0.03). No association was found between peritraumatic distress as well as perceived stress and methylation of NR3C1. NR3C1 gene was susceptible to epigenetic modification of DNA methylation in the context of prenatal stress, and maternal depression was associated with increased NR3C1 methylation among women who experienced COVID-19 lockdown.
产前应激可以在后代受孕的关键时期以表观遗传方式影响孕妇。本研究旨在调查中国 COVID-19 封锁期间经历过围产期创伤的孕妇的围产期创伤痛苦、产前感知压力、抑郁和糖皮质激素受体（NR3C1）DNA 甲基化之间的关系。研究数据来自中国武汉和黄冈的 30 名孕妇。使用创伤后应激障碍量表（PDI）测量围产期创伤痛苦，使用爱丁堡产后抑郁量表（EPDS）测量抑郁症状，使用感知压力量表（PSS）测量感知压力。从静脉血单核细胞基因组中 NR3C1 基因外显子 1F 启动子区域的 DNA 甲基化特征通过亚硫酸氢盐测序进行。采用相关性和线性回归进行数据分析。围产期创伤痛苦、感知压力和抑郁的平均水平分别为 6.30（SD=5.09）、6.50（SD=5.41）和 6.60（SD=4.85），有 23.33%的孕妇抑郁。NR3C1 甲基化的平均水平为 0.65（SD=0.22）。产前抑郁与母亲静脉血的甲基化程度呈正相关（r=0.59，p=0.001），抑郁预测 NR3C1 基因 CpG8 位点的甲基化（β=0.05，p=0.03）。围产期创伤痛苦和感知压力与 NR3C1 的甲基化无关。NR3C1 基因易受产前应激下 DNA 甲基化的表观遗传修饰，COVID-19 封锁期间的女性抑郁与 NR3C1 甲基化增加有关。
