Childhood Poverty and stress shape up genes and immunity

TORONTO: Childhood poverty, stress in adulthood and demographics such as age, sex and ethnicity, all leave an imprint on a person's genes, a new study has found.

A University of British Columbia and Centre for Molecular Medicine and Therapeutics (CMMT) study has found that this imprint could play a role in our immune response.

The study looks at how experiences beginning before birth and in the years after can affect the course of a person's life.

Known as epigenetics, or the study of changes in gene expression, this research examined a process called DNA methylation where a chemical molecule is added to DNA and acts like a dimmer on a light bulb switch, turning genes on or off or setting them somewhere in between.

Research has shown that a person's life experiences play a role in shaping DNA methylation patterns.

The research team discovered that childhood poverty, but not socioeconomic status as an adult, was correlated with the marks or methylation patterns left on genes.

"We found biological residue of early life poverty," said Michael Kobor, who led the research.

"This was based on clear evidence that environmental influences correlate with epigenetic patterns," said Kobor.

The amount of stress hormones produced by adults was also linked with variations in DNA methylation.

Like the chicken and the egg, Kobor says it is unknown whether increased stress as an adult could leave marks on DNA or whether the marks may play a role in the amount of stress hormones released.

Researchers also found that methylation patterns were predictive of future immune responses, suggesting that early life experiences could play a role in our response to illness later in life.

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