Accelerated DNA methylation age in adolescent girls: associations with elevated diurnal cortisol and reduced hippocampal volume.

ABSTRACT: Numerous studies have linked exposure to stress to adverse health outcomes through the effects of cortisol, a product of the stress response system, on cellular aging processes. Accelerated DNA methylation age is a promising epigenetic marker associated with stress and disease risk that may constitute a link from stress response to changes in neural structures. Specifically, elevated glucocorticoid signaling likely contributes to accelerating DNA methylation age, which may signify a maladaptive stress-related cascade that leads to hippocampal atrophy. We examined the relations among diurnal cortisol levels, DNA methylation age and hippocampal volume in a longitudinal study of 46 adolescent girls. We computed area under the curve from two daily cortisol collection periods, and calculated DN

SUBMITTER: Davis EG 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5611751 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature