Nie Yuting, Wen Lulu, Song Juexian, Wang Ningqun, Huang Liyuan, Gao Li, Qu Miao
Department of Neurology, Xuanwu Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China.
Front Psychiatry. 2022 Nov 15;13:925273. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2022.925273. eCollection 2022.
The epigenetic study of childhood trauma has become a valuable field. However, the evolution and emerging trends in epigenetics and childhood trauma have not been studied by bibliometric methods.
This study aims to evaluate status of epigenetic studies in childhood trauma and reveal the research trends based on bibliometrics.
A total of 1,151 publications related to childhood trauma and epigenetics published between 2000 and 2021 were retrieved from the Web of Science Core Collection (WoSCC). CiteSpace (5.8. R 3) was used to implement bibliometric analysis and visualization.
Since 2010, the number of related publications has expanded quickly. The United States and McGill University are the most influential countries and research institutes, respectively. Elisabeth Binder is a leading researcher in childhood trauma and epigenetic-related research. Biological Psychiatry is probably the most popular journal. In addition, comprehensive keyword analysis revealed that "glucocorticoid receptor," "brain development," "epigenetic regulation," "depression," "posttraumatic stress disorder," "maternal care," "histone acetylation," "telomere length," "microRNA," and "anxiety" reflect the latest research trends in the field. A comprehensive reference analysis demonstrated NR3C1 gene methylation, FKBP5 DNA methylation, BDNF DNA methylation, and KITLG methylation have been hot spots in epigenetic studies in the field of childhood trauma in recent years. Notably, the relationship between childhood adversity and NR3C1 gene methylation levels remains unresolved and requires well-designed studies with control for more confounding factors.
As the best of our knowledge, this is the first bibliometric analysis of the association between childhood trauma and epigenetics. Our analysis of the literature suggests that childhood trauma may induce depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder through epigenetic regulation of glucocorticoid receptor expression and brain development. The hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis is the key points of epigenetic research. The current researches focus on NR3C1 gene methylation, FKBP5 DNA methylation, BDNF DNA methylation, and KITLG methylation. These results provide a guiding perspective for the study of epigenetic effects of childhood trauma, and help researchers choose future research directions based on current keywords.
童年创伤的表观遗传学研究已成为一个有价值的领域。然而，尚未通过文献计量学方法对表观遗传学和童年创伤的发展及新兴趋势进行研究。
本研究旨在评估童年创伤表观遗传学研究的现状，并基于文献计量学揭示研究趋势。
从科学引文索引核心合集（WoSCC）中检索2000年至2021年间发表的1151篇与童年创伤和表观遗传学相关的出版物。使用CiteSpace（5.8. R 3）进行文献计量分析和可视化。
自2010年以来，相关出版物数量迅速增加。美国和麦吉尔大学分别是最具影响力的国家和研究机构。伊丽莎白·宾德是童年创伤和表观遗传学相关研究的领军人物。《生物精神病学》可能是最受欢迎的期刊。此外，综合关键词分析表明，“糖皮质激素受体”“大脑发育”“表观遗传调控”“抑郁症”“创伤后应激障碍”“母性关怀”“组蛋白乙酰化”“端粒长度”“微小RNA”和“焦虑”反映了该领域的最新研究趋势。综合参考文献分析表明，NR3C1基因甲基化、FKBP5 DNA甲基化、BDNF DNA甲基化和KITLG甲基化是近年来童年创伤领域表观遗传学研究的热点。值得注意的是，童年逆境与NR3C1基因甲基化水平之间的关系仍未解决，需要设计良好的研究来控制更多混杂因素。
据我们所知，这是首次对童年创伤与表观遗传学之间的关联进行文献计量分析。我们的文献分析表明，童年创伤可能通过糖皮质激素受体表达和大脑发育的表观遗传调控诱导抑郁症、焦虑症和创伤后应激障碍。下丘脑-垂体-肾上腺轴是表观遗传学研究的关键点。目前的研究集中在NR3C1基因甲基化、FKBP5 DNA甲基化、BDNF DNA甲基化和KITLG甲基化。这些结果为童年创伤表观遗传效应的研究提供了指导视角，并帮助研究人员根据当前关键词选择未来的研究方向。
