ArticleScientific reports2024
Prenatal exposure to genocide and subsequent adverse childhood events are associated with DNA methylation of SLC6A4, BDNF, and PRDM8 in early adulthood in Rwanda.
Article in Scientific reports, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
8 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Exploring the association between serotonin transporter promoter region methylation levels and depressive symptoms: a systematic review and multi-level meta-analysis.Translational psychiatry · 2025Pooled it
- Institutional Confirmation Bias in Refugee Health Governance: Why Emergency Templates Persist Despite Evidence of Chronic Harm.Journal of immigrant and minority health · 2026Article
- Health among sexual and gender minority people affected by armed conflict and forced displacement: Call for a biocultural and minority stress framework.Social science & medicine (1982) · 2026Review
- Epigenetic Basis of Stress-Induced Central Nervous System Disorders: Therapeutic Approaches.Biology · 2026Review
- Genetic heritage of war: exploring transgenerational inheritance of PTSD and its molecular background.Mammalian genome : official journal of the International Mammalian Genome Society · 2026Review
- Rethinking health priorities for displaced populations through the integration of epigenetics and iterative reasoning.Public health reviews · 2026Article
- Multilayered regulation of BDNF DNA methylation in PTSD: a review from molecular mechanisms to trans generational inheritance.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2026Review
- InvestigatingBrain sciences · 2025Article
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Authors and funding
6 authors.
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No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
We investigated associations between prenatal genocidal trauma, including maternal rape, and postnatal adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) on DNA methylation of genes associated with the stress response. In a comparative cross-sectional study of 91 Rwandan young adults, categorized by prenatal exposure to genocide and maternal rape, genocide without rape, and unexposed controls, we analyzed DNA methylation from dried blood spots and assessed ACEs and depression and anxiety symptoms at age 24. Prenatal exposure to maternal rape was associated with DNA methylation changes in BDNF and SLC6A4, with the association in BDNF attenuated after including ACE exposure in the model. Genocide exposure without rape was associated with methylation changes in PRDM8 after adjusting for early adversity. Methylation in BDNF and SLC6A4 correlated with depression and anxiety symptoms. These findings underscore the impact of prenatal and postnatal trauma on DNA methylation and mental wellbeing, emphasizing the need for continued support for survivors in the decades after conflict.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.