PMID- 29162165 OWN - NLM STAT- MEDLINE DCOM- 20180606 LR - 20180816 IS - 1469-2198 (Electronic) IS - 0954-5794 (Linking) VI - 29 IP - 5 DP - 2017 Dec TI - Epigenetic correlates of neonatal contact in humans. PG - 1517-1538 LID - 10.1017/S0954579417001213 [doi] AB - Animal models of early postnatal mother-infant interactions have highlighted the importance of tactile contact for biobehavioral outcomes via the modification of DNA methylation (DNAm). The role of normative variation in contact in early human development has yet to be explored. In an effort to translate the animal work on tactile contact to humans, we applied a naturalistic daily diary strategy to assess the link between maternal contact with infants and epigenetic signatures in children 4-5 years later, with respect to multiple levels of child-level factors, including genetic variation and infant distress. We first investigated DNAm at four candidate genes: the glucocorticoid receptor gene, nuclear receptor subfamily 3, group C, member 1 (NR3C1), mu-opioid receptor M1 (OPRM1) and oxytocin receptor (OXTR; related to the neurobiology of social bonds), and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF; involved in postnatal plasticity). Although no candidate gene DNAm sites significantly associated with early postnatal contact, when we next examined DNAm across the genome, differentially methylated regions were identified between high and low contact groups. Using a different application of epigenomic information, we also quantified epigenetic age, and report that for infants who received low contact from caregivers, greater infant distress was associated with younger epigenetic age. These results suggested that early postnatal contact has lasting associations with child biology. FAU - Moore, Sarah R AU - Moore SR AD - British Columbia Children's Hospital. FAU - McEwen, Lisa M AU - McEwen LM AD - British Columbia Children's Hospital. FAU - Quirt, Jill AU - Quirt J AD - British Columbia Children's Hospital. FAU - Morin, Alex AU - Morin A AD - British Columbia Children's Hospital. FAU - Mah, Sarah M AU - Mah SM AD - British Columbia Children's Hospital. FAU - Barr, Ronald G AU - Barr RG AD - British Columbia Children's Hospital. FAU - Boyce, W Thomas AU - Boyce WT AD - University of British Columbia. FAU - Kobor, Michael S AU - Kobor MS AD - British Columbia Children's Hospital. LA - eng PT - Journal Article PL - United States TA - Dev Psychopathol JT - Development and psychopathology JID - 8910645 RN - 0 (Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor) RN - 0 (NR3C1 protein, human) RN - 0 (OPRM1 protein, human) RN - 0 (Receptors, Glucocorticoid) RN - 0 (Receptors, Opioid, mu) RN - 0 (Receptors, Oxytocin) RN - 7171WSG8A2 (BDNF protein, human) SB - IM MH - Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor/genetics MH - Child Development/*physiology MH - Child, Preschool MH - *DNA Methylation MH - Female MH - Humans MH - Infant MH - Male MH - *Mother-Child Relations MH - Receptors, Glucocorticoid/genetics MH - Receptors, Opioid, mu/genetics MH - Receptors, Oxytocin/genetics MH - Touch/*physiology EDAT- 2017/11/23 06:00 MHDA- 2018/06/07 06:00 CRDT- 2017/11/23 06:00 PHST- 2017/11/23 06:00 [entrez] PHST- 2017/11/23 06:00 [pubmed] PHST- 2018/06/07 06:00 [medline] AID - S0954579417001213 [pii] AID - 10.1017/S0954579417001213 [doi] PST - ppublish SO - Dev Psychopathol. 2017 Dec;29(5):1517-1538. doi: 10.1017/S0954579417001213.