Methylation of the glucocorticoid receptor promoter in children: Links with parents as teachers, early life stress, and behavior problems.

The present study examined the effect of early life stress (ELS) on the glucocorticoid receptor gene () methylation, the associations between methylation and behavior problems, and the effect of the program Parents as Teachers (PAT) on methylation. Participants included 132 children, 72 assigned to the PAT intervention group and 60 to the PAT control group. Children were aged 3 years, and were living in psychosocially at-risk families.

Sleep and Methylation of Estrogen Receptor Genes, and , in Healthy Middle-Aged and Older Women: Findings from the Women 40+ Healthy Aging Study.

Purpose: Sleep problems in middle-aged and older women are very common and have been associated with menopause-related changes in estrogen levels. However, not all women experience sleep problems as they enter perimenopause, and epigenetic mechanisms might contribute to the differences in sleep quality within this population. In this study, we hypothesized that increased methylation of two estrogen receptor (ER) genes ( and ) would be associated with increased sleep problems in healthy pre-, peri-, and postmenopausal women, either directly or indirectly through the experience of vasomotor symptoms (VMS).

Differential Promoter Methylation in the Peripheral Blood-Findings from the Women 40+ Healthy Aging Study.

Background Estrogen receptor α (ERα) contributes to maintaining biological processes preserving health during aging. DNA methylation changes of ERα gene () were established as playing a direct role in the regulation of ERα levels. In this study, we hypothesized decreased DNA methylation of associated with postmenopause, lower estradiol (E2) levels, and increased age among healthy middle-aged and older women.

DNA Methylation in Healthy Older Adults With a History of Childhood Adversity-Findings From the Women 40+ Healthy Aging Study.

Adversity in early development seems to increase the risk of stress-related somatic disorders later in life. Physiologically, functioning of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal and hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axes is often discussed as long-term mediators of risk. In particular, DNA methylation in the glucocorticoid receptor gene promoter () has been associated with type and strength of early life adversity and subsequent effects on HPA axis signaling in humans.

Polymorphisms in genes related to the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and antidepressant response - Systematic review.

Objective: Around 50% of depressed patients do not respond to antidepressants. Evidence from familial studies suggests a genetic component to this. This study investigated whether patients with polymorphisms in genes related to the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis were less likely to respond to antidepressants.

Medium throughput bisulfite sequencing for accurate detection of 5-methylcytosine and 5-hydroxymethylcytosine.

Background: Epigenetic modifications of DNA, such as 5-methylcytosine and 5-hydroxymethycytosine, play important roles in development and disease. Here, we present a cost-effective and versatile methodology for the analysis of DNA methylation in targeted genomic regions, which comprises multiplexed, PCR-based preparation of bisulfite DNA libraries followed by customized MiSeq sequencing.

Results: Using bisulfite and oxidative bisulfite conversion of DNA, we have performed multiplexed targeted sequencing to analyse several kilobases of genomic DNA in up to 478 samples, and achieved high coverage data of 5-methylcytosine and 5-hydroxymethycytosine at single-base resolution.