title: Child abuse and epigenetic mechanisms of disease risk.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Child abuse is highly prevalent and associated with increased risk for a range of health problems, including cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, psychiatric disorders, and other health problems. Little is currently known about the mechanism by which early adversity confers risk for health problems later in life.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To determine if there are epigenetic differences associated with child maltreatment that may help explain association between adverse childhood experiences and later health problems.
  
  
  METHODS
  As part of a study examining genetic and environmental factors associated with depression, saliva DNA specimens were collected on 96 maltreated children removed from their parents due to abuse or neglect and 96 demographically matched control children between 2003 and 2010. In 2011, the Illumina 450K BeadChip was used on stored DNA specimens and analyzed to examine whole-genome methylation differences between maltreated and control children.
  
  
  RESULTS
  After controlling for multiple comparisons, maltreated and control children had significantly different methylation values at 2868 CpG sites (p<5.0 × 10(-7), all sites; average methylation difference per site=17%; range=1%-62%). The gene set contained numerous markers of diseases and biological processes related to the health problems associated with early childhood adversity.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Although replication is required, this study suggests that epigenetic mechanisms may be associated with risk for health problems later in life in maltreated children. This study lays the groundwork for future studies examining health and methylation measures to further characterize the role of epigenetic mechanisms in conferring risk for medical problems in individuals with histories of early adversity.
authors: Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut 06520, USA.
authors: Bao-Zhu
authors: BZ
authors: Yang
authors: Huiping
authors: H
authors: Zhang
authors: Wenjing
authors: W
authors: Ge
authors: Natalie
authors: N
authors: Weder
authors: Heather
authors: H
authors: Douglas-Palumberi
authors: Francheska
authors: F
authors: Perepletchikova
authors: Joel
authors: J
authors: Gelernter
authors: Joan
authors: J
authors: Kaufman
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D002649:Child Abuse; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004247:DNA / Q000032:analysis; D019175:DNA Methylation; D044127:Epigenesis, Genetic; D005260:Female; D055106:Genome-Wide Association Study; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D020411:Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis; D012307:Risk Factors; D012463:Saliva
chemical_list: D004247:DNA