Abstract
Emerging research suggests associations of physical and psychosocial stressors with epigenetic aging. Although this work has included early-life exposures, data on maternal exposures and epigenetic aging of their children remain sparse. Using longitudinally collected data from the California, Salinas Valley CHAMACOS study, we examined relationships between maternal Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) reported up to 18 years of life, prior to pregnancy, with eight measures (Horvath, Hannum, SkinBloodClock, Intrinsic, Extrinsic, PhenoAge, GrimAge, and DNAm telomere length) of blood leukocyte epigenetic age acceleration (EAA) in their children at ages 7, 9, and 14 years (N = 238 participants with 483 observations). After adjusting for maternal chronological age at delivery, pregnancy smoking/alcohol use, parity, child gestational age, and estimated leukocyte proportions, higher maternal ACEs were significantly associated with at least a 0.76-year increase in child Horvath and Intrinsic EAA. Higher maternal ACEs were also associated with a 0.04 kb greater DNAm estimate of telomere length of children. Overall, our data suggests that maternal preconception ACEs are associated with biological aging in their offspring in childhood and that preconception ACEs have differential relationships with EAA measures, suggesting different physiologic utilities of EEA measures. Studies are necessary to confirm these findings and to elucidate potential pathways to explain these relationships, which may include intergenerational epigenetic inheritance and persistent physical and social exposomes.
Highlights
Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) refer to negative psychosocial experiences that individuals experience during the first 18 years of life
Contrary to our hypothesis of ACEs being associated with increased aging, individuals whose mothers had 3+ ACEs had significantly longer DNAm telomere estimates than those whose mothers reported no ACEs
The individual maternal ACE domains of domestic violence, mental health, neglect, physical abuse, sexual abuse, and substance use were associated with children having a longer DNAm telomere estimate
Summary
Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) refer to negative psychosocial experiences that individuals experience during the first 18 years of life. ACEs are typically enumerated using a 10-domain framework that includes abuse (emotional, physical, sexual), neglect (emotional, physical), and household dysfunction (domestic violence, divorce, incarcerated relative, mental illness, substance abuse) [1]. In addition to the immediate harmful effects on children’s health, there is growing evidence that ACEs have important health www.aging-us.com consequences later in life – well into adulthood [2]. Literature has demonstrated the potential for ACEs to impact the health of an exposed person’s offspring. Studies of women exposed to ACEs describe an increased risk of preterm birth, which in turn can increase health risks for their offspring later in life [5]. The mechanism by which ACEs can result in intergenerational effects remains unclear
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