Prenatal stress and epigenetics.
Neurosci Biobehav Rev
; 117: 198-210, 2020 10.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-28528960
ABSTRACT
In utero exposure to environmental stress in both animals and humans could result in long-term epigenome alterations which further lead to consequences for adaptation and development in the offspring. Epigenetics, especially DNA methylation, is considered one of the most widely studied and well-characterized mechanisms involved in the long-lasting effects of in utero stress exposure. In this review, we outlined evidence from animal and human prenatal research supporting the view that prenatal stress could lead to lasting, broad and functionally organized signatures in DNA methylation which, in turn, could mediate exposure-phenotype associations. We also emphasized the advantage of using stressor from quasi-randomly assigned experiments. Furthermore, we discuss challenges that still need to be addressed in this field in the future.
Key words
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects
Limits:
Animals
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Pregnancy
Language:
En
Journal:
Neurosci Biobehav Rev
Year:
2020
Document type:
Article