Maternal childhood adversity and infant epigenetic aging: Moderation by restless sleep during pregnancy

Abstract

Maternal exposure to childhood adversity is associated with detrimental health outcomes throughout the life span and may have implications for offspring. Evidence links maternal adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) to detrimental birth outcomes, yet the impact on the infant's epigenome is unclear. Moreover, maternal sleep habits during pregnancy may influence this association. Here, we explore whether restless sleep during pregnancy moderates the association between exposure to maternal childhood adversity and infant epigenetic age acceleration in 332 mother–infant dyads (56% female; 39% Black; 25% Hispanic). During the second trimester, mothers self-reported childhood adversity and past-week restless sleep; DNA methylation from umbilical vein endothelial cells was used to estimate five epigenetic clocks. Multivariable linear regression was used to test study hypotheses. Despite no evidence of main effects, there was evidence of an interaction between maternal ACEs and restless sleep in predicting infant epigenetic age acceleration using the EPIC gestational age clock. Only infants whose mothers reported exposure to both ACEs and restless sleep demonstrated accelerated epigenetic aging. Results provide preliminary evidence that maternal childhood adversity and sleep may influence the infant epigenome.

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Published Version (Please cite this version)

10.1002/dev.22464

Publication Info

Sosnowski, David W, Darlynn M Rojo-Wissar, Gang Peng, Stephanie H Parade, Katherine Sharkey, Cathrine Hoyo, Susan K Murphy, Raquel G Hernandez, et al. (2024). Maternal childhood adversity and infant epigenetic aging: Moderation by restless sleep during pregnancy. Developmental Psychobiology, 66(2). 10.1002/dev.22464 Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/30392.

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Murphy

Susan Kay Murphy

Associate Professor in Obstetrics and Gynecology

Dr. Murphy is a tenured Associate Professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology and serves as Chief of the Division of Reproductive Sciences. As a molecular biologist with training in human epigenetics, her research interests are largely centered around the role of epigenetic modifications in health and disease. 

Dr. Murphy has ongoing projects on gynecologic malignancies, including approaches to eradicate ovarian cancer cells that survive chemotherapy and later give rise to recurrent disease. Dr. Murphy is actively involved in many collaborative projects relating to the Developmental Origins of Health and Disease (DOHaD).

Her lab is currently working on preconception environmental exposures in males, particularly on the impact of cannabis on the sperm epigenome and the potential heritability of these effects. They are also studying the epigenetic and health effects of in utero exposures, with primary focus on children from the Newborn Epigenetics STudy (NEST), a pregnancy cohort she co-founded who were recruited from central North Carolina between 2005 and 2011. Dr. Murphy and her colleagues continue to follow NEST children to determine relationships between prenatal exposures and later health outcomes.


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