Effect of parental adverse childhood experiences on intergenerational DNA methylation signatures from peripheral blood mononuclear cells and buccal mucosa

In this study, the effect of cumulative ACEs experienced on human maternal DNA methylation (DNAm) was estimated while accounting for interaction with domains of ACEs in prenatal peripheral blood mononuclear cell samples from the Maternal and Developmental Risks from Environmental Stressors (MADRES) pregnancy cohort. The intergenerational transmission of ACE-associated DNAm was also explored used paired maternal (N = 120) and neonatal cord blood (N = 69) samples. Replication in buccal samples was explored in the Children’s Health Study (CHS) among adult parental (N = 31) and pediatric (N = 114) samples. We used a four-level categorical indicator variable for ACEs exposure: none (0 ACEs), low (1–3 ACEs), moderate (4–6 ACEs), and high (>6 ACEs). Effects of ACEs on maternal DNAm (N = 240) were estimated using linear models. To evaluate evidence for intergenerational transmission, mediation analysis (N = 60 mother-child pairs) was used. Analysis of maternal samples displayed some shared but mostly distinct effects of ACEs on DNAm across low, moderate, and high ACEs categories. CLCN7 and PTPRN2 was associated with maternal DNAm in the low ACE group and this association replicated in the CHS. CLCN7 was also nominally significant in the gene expression correlation analysis among maternal profiles (N = 35), along with 11 other genes. ACE-associated methylation was observed in maternal and neonatal profiles in the COMT promoter region, with some evidence of mediation by maternal COMT methylation. Specific genomic loci exhibited mutually exclusive maternal ACE effects on DNAm in either maternal or neonatal population. There is some evidence for an intergenerational effect of ACEs, supported by shared DNAm signatures in the COMT gene across maternal-neonatal paired samples.