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Author Notes:

Jacquelyn Y. Taylor, jyt2116@cumc.columbia.edu; Tel.: +1-(212)-342-3986

Conceptualization, V.B., C.A.C., Y.V.S. and J.Y.T.; Data curation, C.A.C. and J.Y.T.; Formal analysis, V.B., Y.H., B.A.C., Q.H. and Y.V.S.; Funding acquisition, C.A.C., Y.V.S. and J.Y.T.; Project administration, J.Y.T. and C.A.C.; Writing—original draft, V.B., B.A.C., K.P.N., J.P.C. and Y.V.S.; Writing—review and editing, V.B., Y.H., B.A.C., K.P.N., Q.H., J.P.C., C.A.C., Y.V.S. and J.Y.T. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Research Funding:

This research was supported by the National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Nursing Research [R01NR013520], and by a Yale School of Nursing Alumni Donor.

Author J.P.C. is supported by the National Institutes of Health Medical Scientist Training Program Grant T32GM136651 and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health Policy Research Scholars Program.

Keywords:

  • Science & Technology
  • Life Sciences & Biomedicine
  • Physical Sciences
  • Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
  • Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
  • Chemistry
  • African Americans
  • DNA methylation
  • trauma
  • ACES
  • epigenomics
  • women
  • ADVERSE CHILDHOOD EXPERIENCES
  • INTIMATE PARTNER VIOLENCE
  • MENTAL-HEALTH
  • PARENTING STRESS
  • INTERGENERATIONAL IMPACT
  • PSYCHOLOGICAL-FACTORS
  • BLOOD-PRESSURE
  • LIFE EVENTS
  • ASSOCIATION
  • DISPARITIES

Experiences of Trauma and DNA Methylation Profiles among African American Mothers and Children

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Journal Title:

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES

Volume:

Volume 23, Number 16

Publisher:

Type of Work:

Article | Final Publisher PDF

Abstract:

Potentially traumatic experiences have been associated with chronic diseases. Epigenetic mechanisms, including DNA methylation (DNAm), have been proposed as an explanation for this association. We examined the association of experiences of trauma with epigenome-wide DNAm among African American mothers (n = 236) and their children aged 3–5 years (n = 232; N = 500), using the Life Events Checklist-5 (LEC) and Traumatic Events Screening Inventory—Parent Report Revised (TESI-PRR). We identified no DNAm sites significantly associated with potentially traumatic experience scores in mothers. One CpG site on the ENOX1 gene was methylome-wide-significant in children (FDR-corrected q-value = 0.05) from the TESI-PRR. This protein-coding gene is associated with mental illness, including unipolar depression, bipolar, and schizophrenia. Future research should further examine the associations between childhood trauma, DNAm, and health outcomes among this understudied and high-risk group. Findings from such longitudinal research may inform clinical and translational approaches to prevent adverse health outcomes associated with epigenetic changes.

Copyright information:

© 2022 by the authors.

This is an Open Access work distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
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