ArticlePloS one2014
DNA methylation signatures triggered by prenatal maternal stress exposure to a natural disaster: Project Ice Storm.
Article in PloS one, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 138 papers, 7 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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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.
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.
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Who cites it
138 citing papers in PubMed, 7 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 321 citations in OpenAlex.
- Risks to the Unborn: An Umbrella Review on the Effects of Prenatal Maternal Stress Caused by Natural Disasters.Stress and health : journal of the International Society for the Investigation of Stress · 2025Pooled it
- Epigenetic effects of endogenous and exogenous glucocorticosteroids during pregnancy on the offspring: a systematic-narrative review.Hormones (Athens, Greece) · 2025Pooled it
- Epigenetic Factors Related to Low Back Pain: A Systematic Review of the Current Literature.International journal of molecular sciences · 2023Pooled it
- Adverse childhood experiences, epigenetics and telomere length variation in childhood and beyond: a systematic review of the literature.European child & adolescent psychiatry · 2020Pooled it
- Aberrant Epigenomic Modulation of Glucocorticoid Receptor Gene (NR3C1) in Early Life Stress and Major Depressive Disorder Correlation: Systematic Review and Quantitative Evidence Synthesis.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2019Pooled it
- An epigenome-wide association meta-analysis of prenatal maternal stress in neonates: A model approach for replication.Epigenetics · 2016Pooled it
- Association between Prenatal and Postnatal Psychological Distress and Toddler Cognitive Development: A Systematic Review.PloS one · 2015Pooled it
- The association between perinatal depressive symptoms and child neurodevelopment.American journal of obstetrics & gynecology MFM · 2024Trial
- Hidden pandemic: COVID-19-related stress, SLC6A4 methylation, and infants' temperament at 3 months.Scientific reports · 2021Trial
- Prenatal Maternal Stress from a Natural Disaster Alters Urinary Metabolomic Profiles in Project Ice Storm Participants.Scientific reports · 2018Trial
- Trial
- Practitioner Review: Infant mental health meets cell and molecular biology - a look to the future.Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines · 2026Review
- Prenatal maternal stress is associated with alterations in the structural integrity of the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis 20 years later: Project Ice Storm.Human reproduction (Oxford, England) · 2026Article
- Glucocorticoid Receptor Signaling: Multilevel Organization, Roles in Fetal Development, and Postnatal Outcomes.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Review
- Prenatal Maternal Stress and Weak Handedness in Early Childhood: The Iowa Flood Study.Developmental psychobiology · 2026Article
- Maternal Autoimmune Disease and Childhood-Onset Type 1 Diabetes: A Nationwide Population-Based Nested Case-Control Study.Pediatric diabetes · 2026Article
- Epigenetic changes associated with multi-generational trauma: characterization, mechanisms, and therapeutics.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2026Review
- Article
- Epigenetics, Resilience, Protective Factors and Factors Promoting Positive Outcomes: A Scoping Review.International journal of developmental neuroscience : the official journal of the International Society for Developmental Neuroscience · 2025Article
- DNA Methylation Mediates the Association Between Prenatal Maternal Stress and the Broad Autism Phenotype in Human Adolescents: Project Ice Storm.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Article
78 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
8 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundPrenatal maternal stress (PNMS) predicts a wide variety of behavioral and physical outcomes in the offspring. Although epigenetic processes may be responsible for PNMS effects, human research is hampered by the lack of experimental methods that parallel controlled animal studies. Disasters, however, provide natural experiments that can provide models of prenatal stress.
methodsFive months after the 1998 Quebec ice storm we recruited women who had been pregnant during the disaster and assessed their degrees of objective hardship and subjective distress. Thirteen years later, we investigated DNA methylation profiling in T cells obtained from 36 of the children, and compared selected results with those from saliva samples obtained from the same children at age 8.
resultsPrenatal maternal objective hardship was correlated with DNA methylation levels in 1675 CGs affiliated with 957 genes predominantly related to immune function; maternal subjective distress was uncorrelated. DNA methylation changes in SCG5 and LTA, both highly correlated with maternal objective stress, were comparable in T cells, peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) and saliva cells.
conclusionsThese data provide first evidence in humans supporting the conclusion that PNMS results in a lasting, broad, and functionally organized DNA methylation signature in several tissues in offspring. By using a natural disaster model, we can infer that the epigenetic effects found in Project Ice Storm are due to objective levels of hardship experienced by the pregnant woman rather than to her level of sustained distress.
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Registered trials
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.