Evidence map›Paper›PMID 22810058›Full record

ArticleEpigenetics2012

Methylation changes at NR3C1 in newborns associate with maternal prenatal stress exposure and newborn birth weight.

Connie J Mulligan, Nicole C D'Errico, Jared Stees, David A Hughes

Open access · hybridAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Epigenetics, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 139 papers, 8 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
139citing papers in PubMed, 8 pooled it
29.4field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

139 citing papers in PubMed, 8 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 333 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
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  9. Trial
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  11. Article
  12. Review
  13. Body Size and Risk of Death During the 1918 Influenza Pandemic in Alaska.American journal of human biology : the official journal of the Human Biology Council · 2025
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  14. Doing Science With Our Grandmother's WISDOM: A Worldview Integrating Sociality, Diversity, and Observant Meaning-Making.American journal of human biology : the official journal of the Human Biology Council · 2025
    Article
  15. Stress-induced developmental plasticity and spontaneous preterm birth: A justice-oriented eco-evo-devo review.European journal of obstetrics & gynecology and reproductive biology: X · 2025
    Review
  16. Review
  17. Article
  18. Maternal Nutrition, Toxicants, and Epigenetic Programming of Obesity Across Generations.Diabetes, metabolic syndrome and obesity : targets and therapy · 2025
    Review
  19. Article
  20. Article

79 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Connie J MulliganDepartment of Anthropology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA. cmulligan@ufl.edu
Nicole C D'Errico
Jared Stees
David A Hughes
University of Florida · USUniversity of Florida Health · US

Funding

UF Clinical and Translational Science AwardUL1TR000064 · NCATS · UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA · PI NELSON, DAVID R · 2012 to 2014
$12.2M
NCATS NIH HHS UL1 TR000064
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Early life experiences, including those in utero, have been linked to increased risk for adult-onset chronic disease. The underlying assumption is that there is a critical period of developmental plasticity in utero when selection of the fetal phenotype that is best adapted to the intrauterine environment occurs. The current study is the first to test the idea that extreme maternal psychosocial stressors, as observed in the Democratic Republic of Congo, may modify locus-specific epigenetic marks in the newborn resulting in altered health outcomes. Here we show a significant correlation between culturally relevant measures of maternal prenatal stress, newborn birth weight and newborn methylation in the promoter of the glucocorticoid receptor NR3C1. Increased methylation may constrain plasticity in subsequent gene expression and restrict the range of stress adaptation responses possible in affected individuals, thus increasing their risk for adult-onset diseases.

Indexed as

Birth WeightDemocratic Republic of the CongoDNA MethylationFemaleHumansInfant, NewbornMalePregnancyPrenatal Exposure Delayed EffectsPromoter Regions, GeneticReceptors, GlucocorticoidStress, PsychologicalNR3C1 protein, humanReceptors, Glucocorticoid

Identifiers

PMID22810058
PMCPMC3427280
OpenAlexW2102926673

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.