In utero exposure to the Great Depression is reflected in late-life epigenetic aging signatures.

ABSTRACT: Research on maternal-fetal epigenetic programming argues that adverse exposures to the intrauterine environment can have long-term effects on adult morbidity and mortality. However, causal research on epigenetic programming in humans at a population level is rare and is often unable to separate intrauterine effects from conditions in the postnatal period that may continue to impact child development. In this study, we used a quasi-natural experiment that leverages state-year variation in economic shocks during the Great Depression to examine the causal effect of environmental exposures in early life on late-life accelerated epigenetic aging for 832 participants in the US Health and Retirement Study (HRS). HRS is the first population-representative study to collect epigenome-wide DNA methyl

SUBMITTER: Schmitz LL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9674255 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature