Table 2 Summary of evidence on the epigenetic link between adverse early-life events and adult neurobehavioral outcomes from candidate gene studies

From: Early-life adversity and long-term neurobehavioral outcomes: epigenome as a bridge?

Condition/exposure	Stage at exposure	Age at detection	Tissue/cells	Population, sample size (n)	Function/pathway	Gene/element	Epigenetic outcome	Ref.
Low SES	0–5 years	25–40 years	Saliva	103 adults	Decreased glucocorticoid and increased pro-inflammatory signaling	CREB/ATF gene family NR3C1	Upregulation Downregulation	[81]
Child maltreatment	Early childhood	Adulthood	Postmortem hippocampus	18 male suicide subjects, 12 controls	Impaired ribosomal functioning	RRNa promoter	Hypermethylation	[89]
	Childhood	Adulthood	Postmortem hippocampus	12 abused and 12 non-abused suicide subjects, 12 controls	Impaired stress reactivity	NR3C1	Downregulation	[90]
	Childhood	Adulthood	Postmortem hippocampus	21 abused and 21 non-abused suicide subjects, 14 controls	Impaired stress reactivity	NR3C1 1F	Hypermethylation	[91]
	Childhood	Adulthood	Whole blood	74 maltreated and 73 control subjects	Impaired stress reactivity	NR3C1 1F promoter region	Hypermethylation	[92]
	Childhood	18–59 years	Leukocytes	58 female and 41 male subjects	Impaired stress reactivity	NR3C1 promoter	Hypermethylation	[93]
	Childhood	18–65 years	Leukocytes	213 female and 127 male subjects	Impaired stress reactivity	NR3C1 promoter	Hypomethylation	[94]
	Childhood	19–59 years	Peripheral blood cells	30 subjects with and 46 without the history of child trauma	Immune functioning, stress reactivity	Glucocorticoid response elements of FKBP5 gene	Allele-specific demethylation	[95]
	Childhood	18–59 years	Leukocytes	58 female and 41 male subjects	Impaired stress reactivity	NR3C1 promoter	Hypermethylation	[96]
	Childhood	Adulthood	Peripheral blood	200 subjects with different rate of child maltreatment	Impaired stress reactivity	NR3C1 1F promoter	Hypermethylation	[97]
	Childhood	18–65 years	Peripheral blood	33 maltreated subjects, 36 controls	Stress-related psychopathology	Serotonin transporter gene promoter	Hypermethylation	[99]
	Childhood	18–25 years	Peripheral blood	34 African American men	Higher proinflammatory response to stress	IL-6 gene promoter	Hypomethylation	[101]

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