Distress During Pregnancy: Epigenetic Regulation of Placenta Glucocorticoid-Related Genes and Fetal Neurobehavior

Abstract

This is the first study to link the effects of pregnant women's distress on the fetus and epigenetic changes in placental genes. Since increased DNA methylation in HSD11B2 and FKBP5 are seen in a minority of bisulfite sequencing clones, these epigenetic changes, and functional consequences, may affect subpopulations of placental cells.