Observational studyPsychosomatic medicine2018
Childhood Trauma, DNA Methylation of Stress-Related Genes, and Depression: Findings From Two Monozygotic Twin Studies.
Observational study in Psychosomatic medicine, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 57 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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Who cites it
57 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 98 citations in OpenAlex.
- Epigenetic mechanisms affected by stress during adolescence and the increased risk for depression later in life: a systematic review.Molecular psychiatry · 2026Pooled it
- Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) epigenomic modifications and brain-related phenotypes in humans: A systematic review.Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews · 2023Pooled it
- How are social determinants of health integrated into epigenetic research? A systematic review.Social science & medicine (1982) · 2021Pooled it
- A systematic review of childhood maltreatment and DNA methylation: candidate gene and epigenome-wide approaches.Translational psychiatry · 2021Pooled it
- Epigenetic Regulation of the BDNF Gene by Molybdenum in 9 to 11-Year-Old Children: A Targeted Gene DNA Methylation Study.Molecular nutrition & food research · 2026Article
- Prevalence of sexual minorities and its association with mental health among Chinese adolescents: a nationally representative cross-sectional study.Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology · 2026Article
- Duration of contact sports play associated with aberrant DNA methylation in human frontal cortex.Research square · 2026Article
- Molecular Mechanisms of Depression: The Interplay Between Genes and Receptors.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Review
- Adolescent depression, childhood maltreatment, and the immune system; a role for epigenetic aging?Brain, behavior, & immunity - health · 2025Article
- Article
- Epigenetics in persons living with HIV: trauma, coping, andEpigenomics · 2025Article
- Type A monoamine oxidase; its unique role in mood, behavior and neurodegeneration.Journal of neural transmission (Vienna, Austria : 1996) · 2025Review
- From trauma to depression: structural, synaptic, epigenetic, and molecular pathways linking early stress to lifelong vulnerability.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2025Review
- Advances and Challenges in Depression Marker Research.Neuropsychiatric disease and treatment · 2025Review
- BDNF methylation associated with stress in women: Novel insights in epigenetics and inflammation.Brain, behavior, & immunity - health · 2024Article
- Severe traumatic injury is associated with profound changes in DNA methylation.NPJ genomic medicine · 2024Article
- Early Life Stress and Major Depressive Disorder-An Update on Molecular Mechanisms and Synaptic Impairments.Molecular neurobiology · 2024Review
- DNA Methylation ofBiomolecules · 2024Article
- MAOA methylation is associated with impulsive and antisocial behaviour: dependence on allelic variation, family environment and diet.Journal of neural transmission (Vienna, Austria : 1996) · 2024Article
- DNA Methylation Patterns in Relation to Acute Severity and Duration of Anxiety and Depression.Current issues in molecular biology · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
9 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveDNA methylation has been associated with both early life stress and depression. This study examined the combined association of DNA methylation at multiple CpG probes in five stress-related genes with depressive symptoms and tested whether these genes methylation mediated the association between childhood trauma and depression in two monozygotic (MZ) twin studies.
methodsThe current analysis comprised 119 MZ twin pairs (84 male pairs [mean = 55 years] and 35 female pairs [mean = 36 years]). Peripheral blood DNA methylation of five stress-related genes (BDNF, NR3C1, SLC6A4, MAOA, and MAOB) was quantified by bisulfite pyrosequencing or 450K BeadChip. We applied generalized Poisson linear-mixed models to examine the association between each single CpG methylation and depressive symptoms. The joint associations of multiple CpGs in a single gene or all five stress-related genes as a pathway were tested by weighted truncated product method. Mediation analysis was conducted to test the potential mediating effect of stress gene methylation on the relationship between childhood trauma and depressive symptoms.
resultsMultiple CpG probes showed nominal individual associations, but very few survived multiple testing. Gene-based or gene-set approach, however, revealed significant joint associations of DNA methylation in all five stress-related genes with depressive symptoms in both studies. Moreover, two CpG probes in the BDNF and NR3C1 mediated approximately 20% of the association between childhood trauma and depressive symptoms.
conclusionsDNA methylation at multiple CpG sites are jointly associated with depressive symptoms and partly mediates the association between childhood trauma and depression. Our results highlight the importance of testing the combined effects of multiple CpG loci on complex traits and may unravel a molecular mechanism through which adverse early life experiences are biologically embedded.
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