Perceived stress during pregnancy and the catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) rs165599 polymorphism impacts on childhood IQ

Pharmacogenomics of 3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA): A Narrative Review of the Literature

3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) is a synthetic amphetamine derivative with notable psychoactive properties and emerging therapeutic potential, particularly for treating post-traumatic stress disorders (PTSD) and substance use disorders. However, its use remains controversial due to inter-individual variability influenced by both environmental and genetic factors. In this context, pharmacogenomics could play a crucial role in guiding MDMA treatment by identifying individuals with genetic predispositions affecting their response to MDMA. Tailoring treatment plans based on individual's genetic makeup may enhance therapeutic outcomes and minimize adverse effects, leading to safer and more effective use of MDMA in clinical settings. Literature analysis reveals that the influence of genetic variants within genes encoded for enzymes involved in MDMA metabolism and/or pharmacodynamics (PD) targets have been relatively under-investigated in humans. Some studies have pointed out associations between MDMA-induced effects and polymorphisms. For example, the catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) Val158Met polymorphism has been associated with cognitive and cardiovascular MDMA-induced effects. Similarly, polymorphisms in the serotonin-linked promoter region (5HTTLPR) have been associated with several MDMA-induced adverse effects including mood disorders. However, despite these findings, only a few associations have been highlighted. Furthermore, some genes encoded for MDMA targets have been only poorly investigated, representing a significant research gap. These observations underscore the need for large-scale, controlled pharmacogenomics studies focusing on a broad panel of genes involved into MDMA pharmacokinetics and PD. Such studies could provide critical insights for optimizing MDMA's therapeutic use and minimizing its risks.

Association between prenatal maternal anxiety and/or stress and offspring's cognitive functioning: A meta-analysis

This meta-analysis examined the relationship between prenatal maternal stress and/or anxiety and the outcomes of children aged 3 months to 9 years. Of the 8754 studies published before June 2021 that were synthesized, 17 conducted in Western countries were included in the meta-analysis (Ntotal  = 23,307; Mmales 54%; Methnicity White 77%, Pacific 15%, African American/Black 10%, Middle Eastern 7%, Eastern 8%). Effect sizes ranged from -0.41 to 0.15. A weak negative association was found between prenatal stress and/or anxiety exposure and children's general intellectual development. Associations varied based on the type of exposure. Findings are limited to developed counties and cannot be generalized to low- and middle-income countries. Directions for maternal prenatal intervention and future studies are discussed.

Differential Relations of Parental Behavior to Children's Early Executive Function as a Function of Child Genotype: A Systematic Review

Child genotype is an important biologically based indicator of sensitivity to the effects of parental behavior on children's executive function (EF) in early childhood, birth to age 5. While evidence for gene × parental behavior interactions on children's early EF is growing, researchers have called the quality of evidence provided by gene × environment interaction studies into question. For this reason, this review comprehensively examined the literature and evaluated the evidence for gene × parental behavior interactions on children's early EF abilities. Psychology and psychiatry databases were searched for published peer-reviewed studies. A total of 18 studies met inclusion criteria. Twenty-nine of 89 (33%) examined interactions were significant. However, a p-curve analysis did not find the significant interactions to be of evidential value. A high rate of false positives, due to the continued use of candidate gene and haplotype measures of child genotype and small sample sizes, likely contributed to the high rate of significant interactions and low evidential value. The use of contemporary molecular genetic measures and larger sample sizes are necessary to advance our understanding of child genotype as a moderator of parental effects on children's EF during early childhood and the biopsychosocial mechanisms underlying children's EF development during this critical period. Without these changes, future research is likely to be stymied by the same limitations as current research.

Perceived stress during labor and its association with depressive symptomatology, anxiety, and pain catastrophizing

Perceived stress is a dimension of the maternal stress response, however little data is available on perceived stress levels and its associated psychological risk factors during labor. In this secondary data analysis from a prospective study evaluating epidural regimens, we investigated the potential associations between depressive symptomatology, anxiety, and pain catastrophizing with perceived stress during labor. Healthy nulliparous adult women with term singleton pregnancies requesting for epidural analgesia in early labor were included. Assessments were administered after epidural analgesia and adequate pain relief were achieved. Perceived stress (Perceived Stress Scale, PSS, high PSS ≥ 16), depressive symptomatology (Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale, EPDS, high EPDS ≥ 10), and pain catastrophizing (Pain Catastrophizing Scale, PCS, high total PCS ≥ 25) were assessed as categorical variables. Additionally, anxiety (State-trait Anxiety Inventory, STAI), PCS total and its subscales (rumination, magnification and helplessness) were analyzed as continuous variables. Univariate and multivariable logistic regression models were used to identify factors associated with high PSS. Of 801 women included, 411 (51.9%) had high PSS. High EPDS (OR 2.16, 95%CI 1.36–3.44), increasing trait anxiety (OR 1.17, 95%CI 1.14–1.20), and increasing pain magnification (OR 1.12, 95%CI 1.05–1.19) were independently associated with high PSS. Depressive symptomatology, trait anxiety, and pain magnification were associated with perceived stress during labor, providing impetus for future research aimed at detecting and alleviating stress and its psychological or pain association factors.

Developmental Dyslexia: Environment Matters

Developmental dyslexia (DD) is a multifactorial, specific learning disorder. Susceptibility genes have been identified, but there is growing evidence that environmental factors, and especially stress, may act as triggering factors that determine an individual's risk of developing DD. In DD, as in most complex phenotypes, the presence of a genetic mutation fails to explain the broad phenotypic spectrum observed. Early life stress has been repeatedly associated with the risk of multifactorial disorders, due to its effects on chromatin regulation, gene expression, HPA axis function and its long-term effects on the systemic stress response. Based on recent evidence, we discuss the potential role of stress on DD occurrence, its putative epigenetic effects on the HPA axis of affected individuals, as well as the necessity of early and appropriate intervention, based on the individual stress-associated (endo)phenotype.

Gaining a deeper understanding of social determinants of preterm birth by integrating multi-omics data

In the US, high rates of preterm birth (PTB) and profound Black-White disparities in PTB have persisted for decades. This review focuses on the role of social determinants of health (SDH), with an emphasis on maternal stress, in PTB disparity and biological embedding. It covers: (1) PTB disparity in US Black women and possible contributors; (2) the role of SDH, highlighting maternal stress, in the persistent racial disparity of PTB; (3) epigenetics at the interface between genes and environment; (4) the role of the genome in modifying maternal stress-PTB associations; (5) recent advances in multi-omics studies of PTB; and (6) future perspectives on integrating multi-omics with SDH to elucidate the Black-White disparity in PTB. Available studies have indicated that neither environmental exposures nor genetics alone can adequately explain the Black-White PTB disparity. Preliminary yet promising findings of epigenetic and gene-environment interaction studies underscore the value of integrating SDH with multi-omics in prospective birth cohort studies, especially among high-risk Black women. In an era of rapid advancements in biomedical sciences and technologies and a growing number of prospective birth cohort studies, we have unprecedented opportunities to advance this field and finally address the long history of health disparities in PTB. IMPACT: This review provides an overview of social determinants of health (SDH) with a focus on maternal stress and its role on Black-White disparity in preterm birth (PTB). It summarizes the available literature on the interplay of maternal stress with key biological layers (e.g., individual genome and epigenome in response to environmental stressors) and significant knowledge gaps. It offers perspectives that such knowledge may provide deeper insight into how SDH affects PTB and why some women are more vulnerable than others and underscores the critical need for integrating SDH with multi-omics in prospective birth cohort studies, especially among high-risk Black women.

Lineage- and Sex-Dependent Behavioral and Biochemical Transgenerational Consequences of Developmental Exposure to Lead, Prenatal Stress, and Combined Lead and Prenatal Stress in Mice

BACKGROUND

Lead (Pb) exposure and prenatal stress (PS) during development are co-occurring risk factors with shared biological substrates. PS has been associated with transgenerational passage of altered behavioral phenotypes, whereas the transgenerational behavioral or biochemical consequences of Pb exposure, and modification of any such effects by PS, is unknown.

OBJECTIVES

The present study sought to determine whether Pb, PS, or combined Pb and PS exposures produced adverse transgenerational consequences on brain and behavior.

METHODS

Maternal Pb and PS exposures were carried out in F0 mice. Outside breeders were used at each subsequent breeding, producing four F1-F2 lineages: [F1 female-F2 female (FF), FM (male), MF, and MM]. F3 offspring were generated from each of these lineages and examined for outcomes previously found to be altered by Pb, PS, or combined Pb and PS in F1 offspring: behavioral performance [fixed-interval (FI) schedule of food reward, locomotor activity, and anxiety-like behavior], dopamine function [striatal expression of tyrosine hydroxylase (Th)], glucocorticoid receptor (GR) and plasma corticosterone, as well as brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and total percent DNA methylation of Th and Bdnf genes in the frontal cortex and hippocampus.

RESULTS

Maternal F0 Pb exposure produced runting in F3 offspring. Considered across lineages, F3 females exhibited Pb-related alterations in behavior, striatal BDNF levels, frontal cortical Th total percentage DNA methylation levels and serum corticosterone levels, whereas F3 males showed Pb- and PS-related alterations in behavior and total percent DNA methylation of hippocampal Bdnf. However, numerous lineage-specific effects were observed, most of greater magnitude than those observed across lineages, with outcomes differing by F3 sex.

DISCUSSION

These findings support the possibility that exposures of previous generations to Pb or PS may influence the brain and behavior of future generations. Observed changes were sex-dependent, with F3 females showing multiple changes through Pb-exposed lineages. Lineage effects may occur through maternal responses to pregnancy, altered maternal behavior, epigenetic modifications, or a combination of mechanisms, but they have significant public health ramifications regardless of mechanism. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP4977.

Association of prenatal maternal perceived stress with a sexually dimorphic measure of cognition in 4.5-month-old infants

Maternal prenatal stress can adversely impact subsequent child neurodevelopment, but little is known about its effect on cognitive development in infancy. This analysis of 107 infants from a prospective birth cohort assessed whether prenatal stress disrupts sexually dimorphic performance typically observed on a physical reasoning task. Maternal stress was assessed at 8-14 and 33-37 gestational weeks using the Perceived Stress Scale. Stress was defined as: low (scores below the median at both times), medium (scores above the median at one of the two times), and high (scores above the median at both times). At 4.5 months infants saw videos of two events: one impossible and the other possible. In the impossible event a box was placed against a wall without support underneath. In the possible event the box was placed against the wall, supported by the floor. Looking time at each event was recorded via infrared eye-tracking. Previous literature has shown that, at 4.5 months of age, girls typically look significantly longer at the impossible than at the possible event, suggesting that they expect the unsupported box to fall and are surprised when it does not. Boys tend to look equally at the two events suggesting that they do not share this expectation. This sex difference was replicated in the current study. General linear models stratified by sex and adjusted for household income, maternal education, mother's age at birth, infant's age at exam, and order of event presentation revealed that girls whose mothers reported high perceived stress during pregnancy had shorter looking time differences between the impossible and possible events than girls whose mothers reported low perceived stress (β = -7.1; 95% CI: -12.0, -2.2 s; p = 0.006). Similar to boys, girls in the highest stress category spent about the same amount of time looking at each event. For boys, there were no significant looking time differences by maternal stress level. This finding suggests prenatal stress is associated with a delay in the development of physical reasoning in girls.

Differences in Sensitivity to Environment Depending on Catechol-O-Methyltransferase (COMT) Gene? A Meta-analysis of Child and Adolescent Gene-by-Environment Studies

To date, several gene-by-environment (G×E) meta-analyses have been conducted to provide cumulative G×E evidence from previous inconsistent empirical studies; however, these meta-analyses have mainly focused on the serotonin transporter gene (5-HTTLPR). The present study aimed to conduct the first meta-analysis that tested whether and how an important dopaminergic gene-the catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) gene contributed to differences in child and adolescent environmental sensitivity. A total of 22 studies with 20,528 participants involving in various developmental outcomes (e.g., externalizing problems, emotional problems, cognitive development and social behaviors) met the inclusion criteria. The pooled effect size of environment-outcome associations in the Met-allele carriers (r = 0.11, 95% CI = [0.07, 0.15], p < .001) did not significantly differ from that in the Val/Val homozygotes (r = 0.14, 95% CI = [0.08, 0.20], p < 0.001) (Q_contrast (1) = 0.37, p = 0.54). The aggregated Liptak-Stouffer Z-score that combined the p-values of the COMT-environment interaction yield a nonsignificant result (p = 0.52). Moreover, outcome domain, sample age, ethnicity and assessment methods for the environment and the outcome did not moderate the effect sizes. Thus far, the COMT Val158Met polymorphism fails to explain the differences in sensitivity to environment. Future studies might incorporate more factors, such as polygenic effects of genetic pathways, epigenetics (EpiG) processing and sexual dimorphism, into the COMT-environment interaction equation.

Antenatal and Postnatal Determinants of Behavioural Difficulties in Early Childhood: Evidence from Growing Up in New Zealand

Behavioural difficulties during early childhood have significant implications for multiple outcomes later in life. Child behavioural difficulties at 2 years of age (N = 6246) were assessed by mothers enrolled in a longitudinal, population-based New Zealand cohort study. 10.1% of children had total difficulties scores in the abnormal range on the preschool version of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. After controlling for maternal education, poverty, and child's birth age/weight, several antenatal and postnatal maternal health and family risk factors were significant for: (i) emotional problems (antenatal maternal perceived stress, lack of periconceptional folate, and moderate to severe maternal postnatal anxiety); (ii) hyperactivity-inattention (antenatal maternal perceived stress, mothers' antenatal exposure to secondhand smoke, moderate to severe maternal postnatal anxiety, and low maternal self-evaluation); (iii) conduct problems and total difficulties (antenatal maternal perceived stress, verbal inter-parental conflict and low maternal self-evaluation). The identification of risk and protective factors associated with early childhood difficulties are vital for guiding intervention and prevention efforts.

Right from the start: protocol for a pilot study for a randomised trial of the New Baby Programme for improving outcomes for children born to socially vulnerable mothers

BACKGROUND

Children born to mothers who experience social complexity (e.g. substance misuse, intimate partner violence, mental ill health, a history of maltreatment) are at increased risk for a range of adverse outcomes at birth and during development. Home visiting programmes have been advocated as a strategy for improving outcomes for disadvantaged mothers and children, such as the Nurse-Family Partnership for young, socially disadvantaged first-time mothers. However, no evidence-based programme is available for multiparous women or older first-time mothers. The New Baby Programme was developed in Northern Ireland. It augments the universal health visiting service available in the UK with a content designed to promote maternal health and well-being in pregnancy, maximise secure attachments of children and parents and enhance sensitive parenting and infant cognitive development.

METHODS/DESIGN

This pilot study is designed to investigate whether it is possible to recruit and retain socially vulnerable mothers in a randomised trial that compares the effects of the New Baby Programme with standard antenatal and postnatal care. Feasibility issues include the referral/recruitment pathway (including inclusion and exclusion criteria), the consent and randomisation, the ability to maintain researcher blinding, the acceptability of the intervention to participants, and the feasibility and acceptability of the outcome measures. The results of the study will inform a definitive phase-3 RCT.

DISCUSSION

Trials of complex social interventions often encounter challenges that lead to the trial being abandoned (e.g. because of problems in recruitment) or present considerable analytic challenges relating to dropout, attrition and bias. This pilot study aims to maximise the chances of successful implementation.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

ISRCTN35456296 retrospectively registered.

Associations Between the KIAA0319 Dyslexia Susceptibility Gene Variants, Antenatal Maternal Stress, and Reading Ability in a Longitudinal Birth Cohort

Maternal stress during pregnancy has been associated with detrimental cognitive developmental outcomes in offspring. This study investigated whether antenatal maternal perceived stress and variants of the rs12193738 and rs2179515 polymorphisms on the KIAA0319 gene interact to affect reading ability and full-scale IQ (FSIQ) in members of the longitudinal Auckland Birthweight Collaborative study. Antenatal maternal stress was measured at birth, and reading ability was assessed at ages 7 and 16. Reading data were available for 500 participants at age 7 and 479 participants at age 16. FSIQ was measured at ages 7 and 11. At age 11, DNA samples were collected. Analyses of covariance revealed that individuals with the TT genotype of the rs12193738 polymorphism exposed to high maternal stress during pregnancy possessed significantly poorer reading ability (as measured by Woodcock-Johnson Word Identification standard scores) during adolescence compared with TT carriers exposed to low maternal stress. TT carriers of the rs12193738 SNP also obtained lower IQ scores at age 7 than C allele carriers. These findings suggest that the KIAA0319 gene is associated with both reading ability and general cognition, but in different ways. The effect on IQ appears to occur earlier in development and is transient, whereas the effect of reading ability occurs later and is moderated by antenatal maternal stress. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Polymorphic variation in the epigenetic gene DNMT3B modulates the environmental impact on cognitive ability: a twin study

BACKGROUND

Though cognitive abilities in adulthood are largely influenced by individual genetic background, they have also been shown to be importantly influenced by environmental factors. Some of these influences are mediated by epigenetic mechanisms. Accordingly, polymorphic variants in the epigenetic gene DNMT3B have been linked to neurocognitive performance. Since monozygotic (MZ) twins may show larger or smaller intrapair phenotypic differences depending on whether their genetic background is more or less sensitive to environmental factors, a twin design was implemented to determine if particular polymorphisms in the DNMT3B gene may be linked to a better (worse) response to enriched (deprived) environmental factors.

METHODS

Applying the variability gene methodology in a sample of 54 healthy MZ twin pairs (108 individuals) with no lifetime history of psychopathology, two DNMT3B polymorphisms were analyzed in relation to their intrapair differences for either intellectual quotient (IQ) or working memory performance.

RESULTS

MZ twin pairs with the CC genotype for rs406193 SNP showed statistically significant larger intrapair differences in IQ than CT pairs.

CONCLUSIONS

Results suggest that DNMT3B polymorphisms may explain variability in the IQ response to either enriched or impoverished environmental conditions. Accordingly, the applied methodology is shown as a potentially valuable tool for determining genetic markers of cognitive plasticity. Further research is needed to confirm this specific result and to expand on other putative genetic markers of environmental sensitivity.