Maternal trauma influences infant and adult health outcomes and may impact future generations through epigenetic modifications such as DNA methylation (DNAm). Research in humans on the intergenerational epigenetic transmission of trauma effects is limited. In this study, we assessed DNAm signatures of war-related violence by comparing germline, prenatal, and direct exposures to violence across three generations of Syrian refugees. We compared families in which a pregnant grandmother versus a pregnant mother was exposed to violence and included a control group with no exposure to war. We collected buccal swab samples and survey data from mothers and 1–2 children in each of 48 families (n = 131 participants). Based on an epigenome-wide association study (EWAS), we identified differentially methylated regions (DMPs): 14 were associated with germline and 21 with direct exposure to violence. Most DMPs showed the same directionality in DNAm change across germline, prenatal, and direct exposures, suggesting a common epigenetic response to violence. Additionally, we identified epigenetic age acceleration in association with prenatal exposure to violence in children, highlighting the critical period of in utero development. This is the first report of an intergenerational epigenetic signature of violence, which has important implications for understanding the inheritance of trauma.

Background Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), and SARS-CoV-2 has been linked to changes in DNA methylation (DNAm) patterns. Studie...

Abstract. DNA methylation (DNAm) plays a key role in mediating phenotypic responses to environmental variation. Various approaches exist to link DNAm varia

Background Epigenetic algorithms of aging, health, and cognition, based on DNA-methylation (DNAm) patterns, are prominent tools for measuring biological age and have been linked to age-related disease...

In this Review, Buckley et al. discuss how DNA methylation is interpreted in mammals and plants, focusing on the reader proteins and transcription factors that bind to methylated DNA and the downstrea...

Background DNA methylation (DNAm) is a developmentally dynamic epigenetic process; yet, most epigenome-wide association studies (EWAS) have examined DNAm at only one timepoint or without systematic co...

DNA methylation (DNAm) is a well-studied epigenetic mechanism implicated in environmentally induced phenotypes and phenotypic plasticity. However, few studies investigate the timescale of DNAm shifts...