Association between maternal adverse childhood experiences and neonatal SCG5 DNA methylation-effect modification by prenatal home visiting.

Maternal childhood adversity and trauma may elicit biological changes that impact the next generation through epigenetic responses measured in DNA methylation (DNAm). These epigenetic associations could be modified by the early postnatal environment through protective factors such as early childhood home visiting (HV) programs that aim to mitigate deleterious intergenerational impacts of adversity. In a cohort of 53 mother-child pairs recruited 2015-2016 in the Pregnancy and Infant Development Study (Cincinnati, Ohio), we examined the association between maternal adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and neonatal DNAm in the SCG5 gene important in neuroendocrine function. We examined prenatal HV as an effect modifier. Mothers completed the ACE measure prenatally and infant buccal samples were collected at 1-month post-partum. Multivariable linear regression was used to examine the association between maternal ACEs and neonatal DNAm expressed as M-values averaged across 4 Cytosine-phosphate-Guanine dinucleotide sites. Higher maternal ACEs (>3) was associated with a 5.79 percentage point lower offspring DNAm (95% confidence interval: -10.44, -1.14), and the association was modified by the number of HVs received during pregnancy. In a population of at-risk mother-child dyads, preliminary evidence suggests that maternal ACEs have a relationship with offspring SCG5 DNAm that differs by the amount of prenatal HV.