ArticleClinical epigenetics2023
Maternal adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and DNA methylation of newborns in cord blood.
Article in Clinical epigenetics, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers.
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
10 citing papers in PubMed, 16 citations in OpenAlex.
- Neuroimmune programming of childhood trauma: comorbid mechanisms and developmental origins of depression and autoimmune diseases.Journal of neuroinflammation · 2026Review
- Epigenetic Responses to Abusive versus Accidental Injuries in Children: A Cross-sectional Epigenome Wide Association Meta-analysis.medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2026Article
- A Cross-Generational Methylomic Signature of Infant Maltreatment in Newborn Rhesus Macaques.Biological psychiatry · 2025Article
- Maternal history of maltreatment interacts with DNA methylation patterns to predict infant temperament.Child abuse & neglect · 2025Article
- Early Life Stress, DNA Methylation of NR3C1 and HSD11B2 , and Oral Feeding Skill Development in Preterm Infants : A Pilot Study.Advances in neonatal care : official journal of the National Association of Neonatal Nurses · 2025Article
- Genetics, Epigenetics, and the Environment: Are Precision Medicine, Provider Compassion, and Social Justice Effective Public Health Measures to Mitigate Disease Risk and Severity?International journal of environmental research and public health · 2024Review
- Maternal Adverse Childhood Experiences and Biological Aging During Pregnancy and in Newborns.JAMA network open · 2024Article
- Methylation of serotonin regulating genes in cord blood cells: association with maternal metabolic parameters and correlation with methylation in peripheral blood cells during childhood and adolescence.Clinical epigenetics · 2024Article
- Maternal and psychosocial antecedents of anxiety and depression in extremely low gestational age newborns at age 15 years.Frontiers in child and adolescent psychiatry · 2024Article
- Impact of sex, race, and social determinants of health on neonatal outcomes.Frontiers in pediatrics · 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
11 authors at 6 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundAdverse childhood experiences (ACEs) increase the risk of poor health outcomes later in life. Psychosocial stressors may also have intergenerational health effects by which parental ACEs are associated with mental and physical health of children. Epigenetic programming may be one mechanism linking parental ACEs to child health. This study aimed to investigate epigenome-wide associations of maternal preconception ACEs with DNA methylation patterns of children. In the Center for the Health Assessment of Mothers and Children of Salinas study, cord blood DNA methylation was measured using the Illumina HumanMethylation450 BeadChip. Preconception ACEs, which occurred during the mothers' childhoods, were collected using a standard ACE questionnaire including 10 ACE indicators. Maternal ACE exposures were defined in this study as (1) the total number of ACEs; (2) the total number of ACEs categorized as 0, 1-3, and > 4; and (3) individual ACEs. Associations of ACE exposures with differential methylated positions, regions, and CpG modules determined using weighted gene co-expression network analysis were evaluated adjusting for covariates.
resultsData on maternal ACEs and cord blood DNA methylation were available for 196 mother/newborn pairs. One differential methylated position was associated with maternal experience of emotional abuse (cg05486260/FAM135B gene; q value < 0.05). Five differential methylated regions were significantly associated with the total number of ACEs, and 36 unique differential methylated regions were associated with individual ACEs (Šidák p value < 0.05). Fifteen CpG modules were significantly correlated with the total number of ACEs or individual ACEs, of which 8 remained significant in fully adjusted models (p value < 0.05). Significant modules were enriched for pathways related to neurological and immune development and function.
conclusionsMaternal ACEs prior to conception were associated with cord blood DNA methylation of offspring at birth. Although there was limited overlap between differential methylated regions and CpGs in modules associated with ACE exposures, statistically significant regions and networks were related to genes involved in neurological and immune function. Findings may provide insights to pathways linking psychosocial stressors to health. Further research is needed to understand the relationship between changes in DNA methylation and child health.
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.