ArticleEpigenetics2016
Gestational stress induces depressive-like and anxiety-like phenotypes through epigenetic regulation of BDNF expression in offspring hippocampus.
Article in Epigenetics, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 60 papers, 2 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
60 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 116 citations in OpenAlex.
- The microbiota-gut-brain-epigenome axis as a novel therapeutic target for decoding postpartum depression.Frontiers in medicine · 2026Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Insights into neuroepigenetics through human histone deacetylase PET imaging.Science translational medicine · 2016Trial
- Chronic prenatal corticosterone exposure alters postpartum maternal behavior and shapes sex-specific offspring outcomes.Research square · 2026Article
- Maternal sleep deprivation and developmental programming of brain aging trajectories in offspring.Biogerontology · 2026Review
- How nature nurtures: prenatal exposure to green space buffers the effects of maternal stress on neonatal BDNF methylation.Molecular psychiatry · 2026Article
- [Research progress on maternal factors influencing the risk of autism spectrum disorder in offspring from a gut-brain axis perspective].Zhongguo dang dai er ke za zhi = Chinese journal of contemporary pediatrics · 2026Review
- Glucocorticoid Receptor Signaling: Multilevel Organization, Roles in Fetal Development, and Postnatal Outcomes.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Review
- Epigenetic, neuroplasticity, and adrenergic targets associated with major depression in immune cells.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Stress-induced epigenome changes as a risk factor in the onset of mental disorders.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2026Review
- Histone Acetylation Modifications and HDACs are Associated with Resilience or Susceptibility to Stress in a Rat Model of Major Depressive Disorder.Neurochemical research · 2025Article
- Epigenetic modulation of social cognition: exploring the impact of methylation in brain-derived neurotrophic factor and oxytocin receptor genes across sex.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Prenatal maternal life adversity impacts on learning and memory in offspring: implication to transgenerational epigenetic inheritance.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2025Article
- Histone modifications and depression: epigenetic mechanisms, therapeutic targets, and translational outlook.Frontiers in genetics · 2025Review
- S-ketamine alleviates depression-like behavior and hippocampal neuroplasticity in the offspring of mice that experience prenatal stress.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Article
- Glucocorticoid effects on the brain: from adaptive developmental plasticity to allostatic overload.The Journal of experimental biology · 2024Review
- The forensic aspects of suicide and neurotrophin factors: a research study.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2024Article
- Epigenetics of Fear, Anxiety and Stress - Focus on Histone Modifications.Current neuropharmacology · 2024Article
- Role of histone deacetylases in neuroplasticity impairments and inflammation in major depression.Neuroscience applied · 2024Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Exposure to stressful life events during pregnancy exerts profound effects on neurodevelopment and increases the risk for several neurodevelopmental disorders including major depression. The mechanisms underlying the consequences of gestational stress are complex and remain to be elucidated. This study investigated the effects of gestational stress on depressive-like behavior and epigenetic modifications in young adult offspring. Gestational stress was induced by a combination of restraint and 24-hour light disturbance to pregnant dams throughout gestation. Depressive-like and anxiety-like behaviors of young adult offspring were examined. The expression and promoter methylation of brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) were measured using RT-qPCR, Western blot, methylated DNA immunoprecipitation (MeDIP) and chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP). In addition, the expressions of histone deacetylases (HDACs) and acetylated histone H3 lysine 14 (AcH3K14) were also analyzed. Our results show that offspring from gestational stress dams exhibited depressive-like and anxiety-like behaviors. Biochemically, stress-offspring showed decreased expression of BDNF, increased expression of DNMT1, HDAC1, and HDAC2, and decreased expression of AcH3K14 in the hippocampus as compared to non-stress offspring. Data from MeDIP and ChIP assays revealed an increased methylation as well as decreased binding of AcH3K14 on specific BDNF promoters. Pearson analyses indicated that epigenetic changes induced by gestational stress were correlated with depressive-like and anxiety-like behaviors. These data suggest that gestational stress may be a suitable model for understanding the behavioral and molecular epigenetic changes observed in patients with depression.
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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.