Difficult situations or events experienced during childhood can have an impact on DNA and on the risk of the appearance of certain pathologies.
- Epigenetics describes changes in gene expression under the influence of environmental factors.
- A study assessed the impact of difficult events or situations experienced during childhood on blood DNA methylation.
- It confirms that these factors can lead to effects on the chromosomes likely to favor the appearance of certain pathologies.
Epigenetics describes changes in gene expression that do not involve modification of the DNA sequence, modifications that are likely to occur under the influence of environmental factors, especially during the first years of life. .
Several scientific studies have already highlighted the impact of the social and emotional environment on epigenetics, but new work published in The Lancet, who have analyzed the effects of adversity on the methylation -a biological process that accompanies cell development- of blood DNA, provide new lessons that show the impact of situations of adversity experienced during childhood.
Links between childhood adversity and blood DNA methylation
To conduct this study, the researchers analyzed data collected on more than 600 children under the age of 11. They analyzed the methylation of the blood DNA of these young participants and they studied the relationship between this methylation and seven types of adversity experienced during childhood.
These factors include care-related violence, sexual or physical abuse, maternal psychopathology, single-parent upbringing, family instability, financial hardship, and living in a poor neighborhood. The results revealed significant links between childhood adversity and changes in blood DNA methylation.
The results of the study show that events and situations of adversity can have consequences on this process. Thus, living one’s childhood in a single-parent family would lead to a 49% modification of the chromosomes, exposure to financial difficulties a 22% modification, and physical or sexual violence a 10% modification. These modifications of DNA methylation are likely to favor the appearance of certain pathologies.
Effects that can be felt in the long term
This study highlights the importance of taking into account the impact of adversity during childhood on health, especially since its effects can be felt in the long term.
His results open new perspectives for research on the role of the environment in health. They could also help develop personalized prevention and care protocols that take into account the patient’s life history.
