RESUMO
Background: Prenatal maternal stress increases the risk of offspring developmental and psychological difficulties. The biological mechanisms behind these associations are mostly unknown. One explanation suggests that exposure of the fetus to maternal stress may influence DNA methylation. However, this hypothesis is largely based on animal studies, and human studies of candidate genes from single timepoints. Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate if prenatal maternal stress, in the form of maternal depressive symptoms, was associated with variation in genome-wide DNA methylation at two timepoints. Methods: One-hundred and eighty-four mother-child dyads were selected from a population of pregnant women in the Little-in-Norway study. The Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) measured maternal depressive symptoms. It was completed by the pregnant mothers between weeks 17 and 32 of gestation. DNA was obtained from infant saliva cells at two timepoints (age 6 weeks and 12 months). DNA methylation was measured in 274 samples from 6 weeks (n = 146) and 12 months (n = 128) using the Illumina Infinium HumanMethylation 450 BeadChip. Linear regression analyses of prenatal maternal depressive symptoms and infant methylation were performed at 6 weeks and 12 months separately, and for both timepoints together using a mixed model. Results: The analyses revealed no significant genome-wide association between maternal depressive symptoms and infant DNA methylation in the separate analyses and for both timepoints together. Conclusions: This sample of pregnant women and their infants living in Norway did not reveal associations between maternal depressive symptoms and infant DNA methylation.
Assuntos
Metilação de DNA/fisiologia , Depressão/psicologia , Epigenômica/métodos , Complicações na Gravidez/psicologia , Efeitos Tardios da Exposição Pré-Natal/psicologia , Adulto , Animais , Depressão/epidemiologia , Depressão/genética , Feminino , Estudo de Associação Genômica Ampla/métodos , Humanos , Recém-Nascido , Estudos Longitudinais , Mães/psicologia , Noruega/epidemiologia , Gravidez , Complicações na Gravidez/epidemiologia , Complicações na Gravidez/genética , Efeitos Tardios da Exposição Pré-Natal/epidemiologia , Efeitos Tardios da Exposição Pré-Natal/genética , Adulto JovemRESUMO
Youth mental health problems is the leading cause of disability worldwide and a major public health concern. Prevalence rates are needed for planning preventive interventions and health care services. We here report Norwegian prevalence estimates for youth mental disorders based on findings from the Bergen Child Study cohort. A web-based psychiatric interview; the Development and Well-Being Assessment, was completed by parents and teachers of 2,043 10-14-year-olds from the city of Bergen, Norway. Post-stratification weights were used to account for selective participation related to parental educational in the estimation of prevalence rates. Prevalence rates are presented for the whole sample and stratified by gender and age. The overall population weighted estimate suggests that 6.93% (95% CI 5.06-9.41) of the children met DSM-IV diagnostic criteria for one or more psychiatric disorders. There were no robust indications of age- or gender-related differences in the prevalence. 11.4% of the children fulfilled criteria for more than one diagnosis. The most common comorbid conditions were ADHD and disruptive disorders. The prevalence of psychiatric disorders was relatively low among Norwegian 10-14-year-olds, compared to published worldwide prevalence estimates. This is in line with estimates from prior studies from the Nordic countries. These findings raise important questions about the origins of different prevalence rates for psychiatric disorders between societies. The findings also illustrate the importance of locally driven epidemiological studies for planning preventative efforts and appropriately scaling mental health services to meet the need of the population.