Increased Frequency of Micronuclei in Adults with a History of Childhood Sexual Abuse: A Discordant Monozygotic Twin Study

Abstract

Background: Childhood sexual abuse (CSA) is a traumatic life event associated with an increased lifetime risk for psychopathology/morbidity. The long-term biological consequences of CSA-elicited stress on chromosomal stability in adults are unknown. The primary aim of this study was to determine if the rate of acquired chromosomal changes, measured using the cytokinesis-block micronucleus assay on stimulated peripheral blood lymphocytes, differs in adult female monozygotic twins discordant for CSA.

Psychiatric outcomes of bullying victimization: a study of discordant monozygotic twins

“…Copeland et al showed a heightened inflammatory response in those children who were the target of peer victimization (Copeland et al 2014). Epigenetic changes, specifically changes in DNA methylation and chromosomal instability, have also been hypothesized as plausible mechanisms in childhood trauma (McEwen et al 2012; York et al 2013) and may play a mediating role in bullying victimization.…”

149. Epigenetic Alterations and an Increased Frequency of Micronuclei in Women With Fibromyalgia

“…Given that the risk for cancer has been shown to be predicted by MN levels [37,41,58], the results of this preliminary data, if confirmed, suggest that MN frequency assessments may be useful for evaluating/diagnosing women with FM. Indeed, recent assessments of MN frequencies in people evaluated from various areas of biobehavioral science have shown increased levels of acquired chromosomal instability (assessed using MN frequencies) in adult women who experienced childhood sexual abuse [32]; patients who have neurodegenerative conditions, such as Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease [59]; and adults with type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease [60]. The presence of acquired chromosomal instability, which could lead to somatic tissue mosaicism, has been conjectured to occur as a global biological process that affects many tissues and contributes to the development of several conditions, including (but not limited to) autism, schizophrenia, autoimmune diseases, and Alzheimer's disease [61].…”

“…Indeed, we have shown that stress levels can impact the frequency of acquired chromosomal abnormalities by demonstrating a significantly increased frequency of somatic cell chromosomal instability in adult women who experienced childhood sexual abuse when compared to their identical cotwins who did not experience childhood sexual abuse (quantified using a micronucleus assay) [32]. Further support that chromosomal instability could arise as a downstream effect following perturbations in methylation comes from studies of individuals who have immunodeficiency, centromeric region instability, and facial anomalies (ICF) syndrome, which is an autosomal recessive condition resulting from a mutation in the methyltransferase gene B.…”

A Systematic Review of the Biological Correlates and Consequences of Childhood Maltreatment and Adverse Childhood Experiences

“…Using a twin-based design, Baldwin et al (2018) reported a significant association between CM and levels of CRP at age 18 net of latent genetic influences. York et al (2013) examined the effect of CM on micronuclei (i.e., extranuclear bodies formed by cellular damage) and found that twins with more experiences of CM had higher levels of micronuclei compared to their co-twins with less experiences of CM. Conversely, Rooks et al (2012) examined the relationship between CM, CRP, and interleukin-6 (IL-6) levels in a sample of monozygotic and dizygotic twin pairs and found that between-pair differences explained more of the relationship than within-twin differences, suggesting that the association between CM and inflammation is largely influenced by factors that cluster within families.…”