PMID- 26649946 OWN - NLM STAT- MEDLINE DCOM- 20190128 LR - 20220321 IS - 1932-6203 (Electronic) IS - 1932-6203 (Linking) VI - 10 IP - 12 DP - 2015 TI - BDNF Methylation and Maternal Brain Activity in a Violence-Related Sample. PG - e0143427 LID - 10.1371/journal.pone.0143427 [doi] LID - e0143427 AB - It is known that increased circulating glucocorticoids in the wake of excessive, chronic, repetitive stress increases anxiety and impairs Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF) signaling. Recent studies of BDNF gene methylation in relation to maternal care have linked high BDNF methylation levels in the blood of adults to lower quality of received maternal care measured via self-report. Yet the specific mechanisms by which these phenomena occur remain to be established. The present study examines the link between methylation of the BDNF gene promoter region and patterns of neural activity that are associated with maternal response to stressful versus non-stressful child stimuli within a sample that includes mothers with interpersonal violence-related PTSD (IPV-PTSD). 46 mothers underwent fMRI. The contrast of neural activity when watching children-including their own-was then correlated to BDNF methylation. Consistent with the existing literature, the present study found that maternal BDNF methylation was associated with higher levels of maternal anxiety and greater childhood exposure to domestic violence. fMRI results showed a positive correlation of BDNF methylation with maternal brain activity in the anterior cingulate (ACC), and ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC), regions generally credited with a regulatory function toward brain areas that are generating emotions. Furthermore we found a negative correlation of BDNF methylation with the activity of the right hippocampus. Since our stimuli focus on stressful parenting conditions, these data suggest that the correlation between vmPFC/ACC activity and BDNF methylation may be linked to mothers who are at a disadvantage with respect to emotion regulation when facing stressful parenting situations. Overall, this study provides evidence that epigenetic signatures of stress-related genes can be linked to functional brain regions regulating parenting stress, thus advancing our understanding of mothers at risk for stress-related psychopathology. FAU - Moser, Dominik A AU - Moser DA AD - Department of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, University of Geneva Hospitals, Geneva, Switzerland. AD - Department of Psychiatry, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, United States of America. FAU - Paoloni-Giacobino, Ariane AU - Paoloni-Giacobino A AD - Department of Genetic Medicine and Development, Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva Hospitals, Geneva, Switzerland. FAU - Stenz, Ludwig AU - Stenz L AD - Department of Genetic Medicine and Development, Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva Hospitals, Geneva, Switzerland. FAU - Adouan, Wafae AU - Adouan W AD - Department of Genetic Medicine and Development, Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva Hospitals, Geneva, Switzerland. FAU - Manini, Aurelia AU - Manini A AD - Department of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, University of Geneva Hospitals, Geneva, Switzerland. FAU - Suardi, Francesca AU - Suardi F AD - Department of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, University of Geneva Hospitals, Geneva, Switzerland. FAU - Cordero, Maria I AU - Cordero MI AD - Faculty of Health, Psychology and Social care, Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester, United Kingdom. FAU - Vital, Marylene AU - Vital M AD - Department of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, University of Geneva Hospitals, Geneva, Switzerland. FAU - Sancho Rossignol, Ana AU - Sancho Rossignol A AD - Department of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, University of Geneva Hospitals, Geneva, Switzerland. FAU - Rusconi-Serpa, Sandra AU - Rusconi-Serpa S AD - Department of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, University of Geneva Hospitals, Geneva, Switzerland. FAU - Ansermet, Francois AU - Ansermet F AD - Department of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, University of Geneva Hospitals, Geneva, Switzerland. FAU - Dayer, Alexandre G AU - Dayer AG AD - Faculty of Health, Psychology and Social care, Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester, United Kingdom. FAU - Schechter, Daniel S AU - Schechter DS AD - Department of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, University of Geneva Hospitals, Geneva, Switzerland. LA - eng PT - Journal Article PT - Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't DEP - 20151209 PL - United States TA - PLoS One JT - PloS one JID - 101285081 RN - 0 (Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor) RN - 7171WSG8A2 (BDNF protein, human) SB - IM MH - Adult MH - Anxiety MH - Brain/*metabolism MH - Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor/*metabolism MH - Child, Preschool MH - *DNA Methylation MH - *Domestic Violence MH - *Epigenesis, Genetic MH - Female MH - Hippocampus/metabolism MH - Humans MH - Mothers/psychology MH - Promoter Regions, Genetic MH - Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic/metabolism MH - Stress, Psychological/*genetics PMC - PMC4674054 COIS- Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist. EDAT- 2015/12/10 06:00 MHDA- 2019/01/29 06:00 PMCR- 2015/12/09 CRDT- 2015/12/10 06:00 PHST- 2015/09/09 00:00 [received] PHST- 2015/11/04 00:00 [accepted] PHST- 2015/12/10 06:00 [entrez] PHST- 2015/12/10 06:00 [pubmed] PHST- 2019/01/29 06:00 [medline] PHST- 2015/12/09 00:00 [pmc-release] AID - PONE-D-15-39665 [pii] AID - 10.1371/journal.pone.0143427 [doi] PST - epublish SO - PLoS One. 2015 Dec 9;10(12):e0143427. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0143427. eCollection 2015.