Multi-Epigenome-Wide Analyses and Meta-Analysis of Child Maltreatment in Judicial Autopsies and Intervened Children and Adolescents

Abstract

Abstract Child maltreatment (CM) leads to adverse outcomes in later life. We describe the epigenome-wide analyses and meta-analysis results of three original cohorts consisting of judicially or socially certified CM cases and controls to gain further insight into the epigenetic signatures engraved in maltreated children. We also show associations with biological indicators (endophenotypes) in each cohort that represent CM features with maltreatment history, thus providing further confidence in the identified methylations. Four methylations in ATE1, CHST11, SERPINB9P1, and FOXP1 associate with CM in the meta-analysis, in addition to several genome-wide level significant methylations in each cohort. FOXP1, a gene related to neurodevelopmental disorders, is of particular interest, as its methylation level correlates with atypical brain structures representing in maltreated children and contributes to the accuracy of a methylation risk score to predict CM. These results suggest that severe CM experiences may contribute to neurodevelopmental-like and traumatic symptoms via epigenetic alterations.