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BNDF methylation in mothers and newborns is associated with maternal exposure to war trauma

Overview of attention for article published in Clinical Epigenetics, June 2017
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About this Attention Score

  • Above-average Attention Score compared to outputs of the same age (62nd percentile)
  • Good Attention Score compared to outputs of the same age and source (70th percentile)

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129 Mendeley
Title
BNDF methylation in mothers and newborns is associated with maternal exposure to war trauma
Published in
Clinical Epigenetics, June 2017
DOI 10.1186/s13148-017-0367-x
Pubmed ID
Authors

Darlene A. Kertes, Samarth S. Bhatt, Hayley S. Kamin, David A. Hughes, Nicole C. Rodney, Connie J. Mulligan

Abstract

The BDNF gene codes for brain-derived neurotrophic factor, a growth factor involved in neural development, cell differentiation, and synaptic plasticity. Present in both the brain and periphery, BDNF plays critical roles throughout the body and is essential for placental and fetal development. Rodent studies show that early life stress, including prenatal stress, broadly alters BDNF methylation, with presumed changes in gene expression. No studies have assessed prenatal exposure to maternal traumatic stress and BDNF methylation in humans. This study examined associations of prenatal exposure to maternal stress and BDNF methylation at CpG sites across the BDNF gene. Among 24 mothers and newborns in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, a region with extreme conflict and violence to women, maternal experiences of war trauma and chronic stress were associated with BDNF methylation in umbilical cord blood, placental tissue, and maternal venous blood. Associations of maternal stress and BDNF methylation showed high tissue specificity. The majority of significant associations were observed in putative transcription factor binding regions. This is the first study in humans to examine BDNF methylation in relation to prenatal exposure to maternal stress in three tissues simultaneously and the first in any mammalian species to report associations of prenatal stress and BDNF methylation in placental tissue. The findings add to the growing body of evidence highlighting the importance of considering epigenetic effects when examining the impacts of trauma and stress, not only for adults but also for offspring exposed via effects transmitted before birth.

X Demographics

X Demographics

The data shown below were collected from the profiles of 7 X users who shared this research output. Click here to find out more about how the information was compiled.
Mendeley readers

Mendeley readers

The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 129 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.

Geographical breakdown

Country Count As %
Unknown 129 100%

Demographic breakdown

Readers by professional status Count As %
Researcher 18 14%
Student > Master 17 13%
Student > Ph. D. Student 13 10%
Student > Bachelor 13 10%
Student > Doctoral Student 8 6%
Other 26 20%
Unknown 34 26%
Readers by discipline Count As %
Psychology 21 16%
Medicine and Dentistry 17 13%
Agricultural and Biological Sciences 10 8%
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology 9 7%
Social Sciences 9 7%
Other 22 17%
Unknown 41 32%
Attention Score in Context

Attention Score in Context

This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 4. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 23 April 2018.
All research outputs
#7,285,335
of 22,985,065 outputs
Outputs from Clinical Epigenetics
#526
of 1,262 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#115,680
of 314,551 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Clinical Epigenetics
#8
of 27 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 22,985,065 research outputs across all sources so far. This one has received more attention than most of these and is in the 67th percentile.
So far Altmetric has tracked 1,262 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a little more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 6.5. This one has gotten more attention than average, scoring higher than 56% of its peers.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 314,551 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has gotten more attention than average, scoring higher than 62% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 27 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has gotten more attention than average, scoring higher than 70% of its contemporaries.