ArticleBMC medical genetics2017
DNA methylation profiles of elderly individuals subjected to indentured childhood labor and trauma.
Article in BMC medical genetics, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 16 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled 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.
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.
Who cites it
16 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 34 citations in OpenAlex.
- A systematic review of childhood maltreatment and DNA methylation: candidate gene and epigenome-wide approaches.Translational psychiatry · 2021Pooled it
- Differential Methylation by Early Life Adversity in the Future of Families Child Wellbeing Study.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Molecular insights into trauma: A framework of epigenetic pathways to resilience through intervention.Med (New York, N.Y.) · 2025Review
- Epigenome-wide association study of long-term psychosocial stress in older adults.Epigenetics · 2024Article
- DNA methylation changes in association with trauma-focused psychotherapy efficacy in treatment-resistant depression patients: a prospective longitudinal study.European journal of psychotraumatology · 2024Article
- Epigenetics of early-life adversity in youth: cross-sectional and longitudinal associations.Clinical epigenetics · 2022Article
- Evaluating the challenges and reproducibility of studies investigating DNA methylation signatures of psychological stress.Epigenomics · 2022Review
- Social epigenomics: are we at an impasse?Epigenomics · 2021Review
- Epigenomic mediation after adverse childhood experiences: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Forensic sciences research · 2021Review
- Article
- Childhood traumatization is associated with differences in TRPA1 promoter methylation in female patients with multisomatoform disorder with pain as the leading bodily symptom.Clinical epigenetics · 2019Article
- Childhood adversity and DNA methylation in two population-based cohorts.Translational psychiatry · 2018Article
- Analysis of DNA Methylation in Young People: Limited Evidence for an Association Between Victimization Stress and Epigenetic Variation in Blood.The American journal of psychiatry · 2018Article
- The role of DNA methylation in the association between childhood adversity and cardiometabolic disease.International journal of cardiology · 2018Review
- A pilot investigation on DNA methylation modifications associated with complex posttraumatic symptoms in elderly traumatized in childhood.BMC research notes · 2017Article
- Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors at 5 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundChildhood trauma is associated with increased vulnerability to mental and somatic disorders later in life. Epigenetic modifications such as DNA methylation are one potential mechanism through which such long-lasting impairments/consequences can be explained. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether childhood trauma is associated with long-term DNA methylation alterations in old age.
methodsWe assessed genome-wide DNA methylation profiles in a cohort of former indentured child laborers ("Verdingkinder") who suffered severe childhood adversities (N = 30; M age = 75.9 years), and compared them to control group with similar demographic characteristics (N = 15, M age = 72.8 years). DNA was isolated from epithelial buccal cells and hybridized to the Illumina Infinium 450 k DNA methylation array, which provides coverage of 485,000 methylation sites.
resultsAfter accounting for batch effects, age, gender and multiple testing, 71 differentially methylated CpG positions were identified between the two groups. They were annotated among others to genes involved in neuronal projections and neuronal development. Some of the identified genes with differential methylation (DLG associated protein 2, mechanistic target of rapamycin) have previously been associated with traumatic stress.
conclusionsThe results indicate specific epigenetic alterations in elderly individuals who were subjected to childhood adversities. Psychiatric and somatic comorbidities as well as differences in buccal epithelial cells proportion may contribute to the observed epigenetic differences.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
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.