Background Maternal mood disorders and their treatment during pregnancy may have effects on the offspring epigenome. We aim to evaluate associations of maternal prenatal antidepressant use, anxiety, and depression with cord blood DNA methylation across the genome at birth and test for persistence of associations in early and mid-childhood blood DNA. Methods A discovery phase was conducted in Project Viva , a prospective pre-birth cohort study with external replication in an independent cohort, the Generation R Study . In Project Viva, pregnant women were recruited between 1999 and 2002 in Eastern Massachusetts, USA. In the Generation R Study, pregnant women were recruited between 2002 and 2006 in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. In Project Viva, 479 infants had data on maternal antidepressant use, anxiety, depression, and cord blood DNA methylation, 120 children had DNA methylation measured in early childhood (~ 3 years), and 460 in mid-childhood (~ 7 years). In the Generation R Study, 999 infants had data on maternal antidepressants and cord blood DNA methylation. The prenatal antidepressant prescription was obtained from medical records. At-mid pregnancy, symptoms of anxiety and depression were assessed with the Pregnancy-Related Anxiety Scale and the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale in Project Viva and with the Brief Symptom Inventory in the Generation R Study. Genome-wide DNA methylation was measured using the Infinium HumanMethylation450 BeadChip in both cohorts. Results In Project Viva, 2.9% (14/479) pregnant women were prescribed antidepressants, 9.0% (40/445) experienced high pregnancy-related anxiety, and 8.2% (33/402) reported symptoms consistent with depression. Newborns exposed to antidepressants in pregnancy had 7.2% lower DNA methylation (95% CI, − 10.4, − 4.1; P = 1.03 × 10 −8 ) at cg22159528 located in the gene body of ZNF575 , and this association replicated in the Generation R Study ( β = − 2.5%; 95% CI − 4.2, − 0.7; P = 0.006). In Project Viva, the association persisted in early ( β = − 6.2%; 95% CI − 10.7, − 1.6) but not mid-childhood. We observed cohort-specific associations for maternal anxiety and depression in Project Viva that did not replicate. Conclusions The ZNF575 gene is involved in transcriptional regulation but specific functions are largely unknown. Given the widespread use of antidepressants in pregnancy, as well as the effects of exposure to anxiety and depression, implications of potential fetal epigenetic programming by these risk factors and their impacts on development merit further investigation. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s13148-019-0653-x) contains suppl...

BackgroundSocial support may promote healthful behaviors that prevent excess weight at critical periods in women’s life. Our objective was to investigate associations of social support at 6 months postpartum with women’s health behaviors that have previously been shown to predict weight retention at 1 year postpartum.MethodsAt 6 months postpartum in Project Viva, a pre-birth prospective cohort in Massachusetts, women reported social support using the Turner Support Scale, depressive symptoms using the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale, diet using PrimeScreen, average number of hours walking, light/moderate and vigorous physical activity, television viewing, and sleeping each day.ResultsAmong 1356 women, greater partner support was associated with higher levels of walking (OR 1.36, 95% CI [1.01, 1.82]) and intake of fiber (OR 1.43, 95% CI [1.06, 1.91]) and lower intake of trans-fat (OR 1.49, 95% CI [1.11, 2.01]). Support from family/friends was marginally related to healthful levels of light/moderate physical activity (OR 1.26, 95% CI [0.96, 1.65]) and television viewing (OR 1.29, 95% CI [0.99, 1.69]). Both sources of support were strongly associated with lower odds of incident depression (OR 0.33, 95% CI [0.20, 0.55] and OR 0.49, 95% CI [0.30, 0.79], respectively). We did not find associations with vigorous physical activity or sleep duration.ConclusionsSocial support is important to the physical and mental health of new mothers and may promote behaviors that limit postpartum weight retention.

Exposure to maternal depressive symptoms in the peri-pregnancy periods may be associated with poorer child development, but research is often limited to only maternal assessments of behavior and cognition. This study investigates the specific periods of prenatal and postnatal exposure to maternal depressive symptoms in association with child development using reports from teachers and mothers. This study is based on 1225 mother–child pairs from Project Viva, a prospective pre-birth cohort study. Mothers reported depressive symptoms on the Edinburgh Postpartum Depression Scale (EPDS) in mid-pregnancy as well as at 6 months and 12 months postpartum. Teachers and mothers reported child executive functions using the Behavioral Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF) and behavior using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). Children completed the Kaufman Brief Intelligence Test (KBIT-2), the Wide Range Assessment of Visual Motor Abilities (WRAVMA), and the Visual Memory Index of the Wide Range Assessment of Memory and Learning (WRAML). We used multivariable linear regression models to examine associations of prenatal and postpartum depressive symptoms with outcomes. Many of the crude associations observed were attenuated after adjusting for demographic factors and maternal IQ, yet some remained significant. For example, high prenatal maternal depressive symptoms were associated with poorer scores on the BRIEF Behavior Regulation Index and some SDQ scales based on reports from teachers and mothers. High prenatal maternal depressive symptoms were associated with poorer behavioral development. Postpartum symptoms did not show strong associations with outcomes once we adjusted for the prenatal period.

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