Data_Sheet_1_Children With Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder and Psychopathological Risk in Their Mothers: The Function of Global DNA Methylation.PDF

Epigenetic mechanisms, in particular DNA methylation, have been implicated in the etiopathogenesis of psychopathologies in adulthood. The significance of this mechanism in child psychopathologies, however, is much less recognized. Here, we examined whether global DNA methylation alteration was associated with the presence of disruptive mood dysregulation disorder (DMDD) in children. Moreover, in light of the relevance of the interplay between children and parents for the onset and maintaining of psychopathology during development, we measured the association between psychological symptoms, attachment styles, and global DNA methylation levels in healthy and DMDD mother-child dyads (mothers: N = 126, age = 38.3 ± 2.5 years; children: N = 150, age = 8.2 ± 0.9 years, gender ratio [f/m] = 72/78). We did not observe any significant differences in global DNA methylation levels in DMDD children when compared with healthy peers, and children's symptoms did not correlate with variations in this parameter. The mothers showed different levels of psychological symptomatology. Notably, mothers with high psychological symptomatology showed the lowest levels of global DNA methylation. Maternal global DNA methylation levels were associated with maternal hostility, interpersonal sensitivity, psychoticism, and general severity index. Moreover, we found an effect of maternal mental health on the severity of children's symptoms, independently from both maternal and child DNA methylation levels. Despite here DNA methylation does not appear to be involved in the maternal inheritance of vulnerability to depression, this biological link could still arise in later stages of the child's development.

表观遗传机制，特别是DNA甲基化，已被证实与成年期心理疾病的病因病理学有关。然而，此机制在儿童心理疾病中的重要性却鲜为人知。在本研究中，我们探讨了全局DNA甲基化改变是否与儿童中破坏性情绪调节障碍（DMDD）的存在相关。鉴于儿童与父母之间的互动对心理疾病的发生和发展维持的重要性，我们测量了心理健康症状、依恋风格以及健康和DMDD母子二元组（母亲：N = 126，年龄 = 38.3 ± 2.5岁；儿童：N = 150，年龄 = 8.2 ± 0.9岁，性别比例[f/m] = 72/78）的全局DNA甲基化水平之间的关联。我们没有观察到DMDD儿童的全局DNA甲基化水平与健康同伴之间存在显著差异，且儿童的症状与该参数的变化不相关。母亲的心理症状水平表现出不同。值得注意的是，心理症状水平较高的母亲其全局DNA甲基化水平最低。母亲的全球DNA甲基化水平与母亲的敌意、人际敏感性、精神分裂症和一般严重指数相关。此外，我们发现母亲的身心健康对儿童症状的严重程度有影响，这种影响独立于母亲和儿童的DNA甲基化水平。尽管在此DNA甲基化似乎并未参与抑郁易感性的母系遗传，但在儿童发展的后期阶段，这种生物学联系仍可能产生。