From early stress to 12-month development in very preterm infants: Preliminary findings on epigenetic mechanisms and brain growth

Monica Fumagalli, Marco Fumagalli, Livio Provenzi, Pietro De Carli, Francesca Dessimone, Ida Sirgiovanni, Roberto Giorda, Claudia Cinnante, Letizia Squarcina, Uberto Pozzoli, Fabio Triulzi, Paolo Brambilla, Renato Borgatti, Fabio Mosca, Rosario Montirosso

Risultato della ricerca: Contributo in rivistaArticolo in rivista

31 Citazioni (Scopus)

Abstract

Abstract Very preterm (VPT) infants admitted to Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) are at risk for altered brain growth and less-than-optimal socio-emotional development. Recent research suggests that early NICU-related stress contributes to socio-emotional impairments in VPT infants at 3 months through epigenetic regulation (i.e., DNA methylation) of the serotonin transporter gene (SLC6A4). In the present longitudinal study we assessed: (a) the effects of NICU-related stress and SLC6A4 methylation variations from birth to discharge on brain development at term equivalent age (TEA); (b) the association between brain volume at TEA and socio-emotional development (i.e., Personal-Social scale of Griffith Mental Development Scales, GMDS) at 12 months corrected age (CA). Twenty-four infants had complete data at 12-month-age. SLC6A4 methylation was measured at a specific CpG previously associated with NICU-related stress and socio-emotional stress. Findings confirmed that higher NICU-related stress associated with greater increase of SLC6A4 methylation at NICU discharge. Moreover, higher SLC6A4 discharge methylation was associated with reduced anterior temporal lobe (ATL) volume at TEA, which in turn was significantly associated with less-than-optimal GMDS Personal-Social scale score at 12 months CA. The reduced ATL volume at TEA mediated the pathway linking stress-related increase in SLC6A4 methylation at NICU discharge and socio-emotional development at 12 months CA. These findings suggest that early adversity-related epigenetic changes might contribute to the long-lasting programming of socio-emotional development in VPT infants through epigenetic regulation and structural modifications of the developing brain.
Lingua originaleEnglish
pagine (da-a)1-1
Numero di pagine1
RivistaPLoS One
Volume13
DOI
Stato di pubblicazionePubblicato - 2018
Pubblicato esternamente

Keywords

  • preterm infants

Fingerprint

Entra nei temi di ricerca di 'From early stress to 12-month development in very preterm infants: Preliminary findings on epigenetic mechanisms and brain growth'. Insieme formano una fingerprint unica.

Cita questo