Methylome-wide association study of early life stressors and adult mental health.
Howard DM., Pain O., Arathimos R., Barbu MC., Amador C., Walker RM., Jermy B., Adams MJ., Deary IJ., Porteous D., Campbell A., Sullivan PF., Evans KL., Arseneault L., Wray NR., Meaney M., McIntosh AM., Lewis CM.
The environment and events that we are exposed to in utero, during birth and in early childhood influence our future physical and mental health. The underlying mechanisms that lead to these outcomes are unclear, but long-term changes in epigenetic marks, such as DNA methylation, could act as a mediating factor or biomarker. DNA methylation data were assayed at 713 522 CpG sites from 9537 participants of the Generation Scotland: Scottish Family Health Study, a family-based cohort with extensive genetic, medical, family history and lifestyle information. Methylome-wide association studies of eight early life environment phenotypes and two adult mental health phenotypes (major depressive disorder and brief resilience scale) were conducted using DNA methylation data collected from adult whole blood samples. Two genes involved with different developmental pathways (PRICKLE2, Prickle Planar Cell Polarity Protein 2 and ABI1, Abl-Interactor-1) were annotated to CpG sites associated with preterm birth (P