DNA methylation in children with prenatal methamphetamine exposure and environmental adversity

Methamphetamine (MA) use during pregnancy is a significant public health concern in the United States and affects long-term brain and behavioral development in children. We hypothesized that prenatal MA exposure would be related to greater DNA methylation of HSD11B2 and postnatal environmental stress.

The Infant Development, Environment, and Lifestyle Study (IDEAL), a longitudinal study of prenatal MA exposure enrolled mother-infant dyads in California, Hawaii, Iowa, and Oklahoma. Prenatal exposure was defined by maternal self-report and/or meconium toxicology screening. At ages 10-11 years, 100 children were assessed for drug exposure and DNA methylation of HSD11B2. Hierarchical linear models were used to determine the association between prenatal MA exposure and methylation of HSD11B2 at four CpG sites.

Prenatal MA exposure (1.4% vs 0.31%, P < 0.01) and early childhood adversity (3.0 vs 2.0, P < 0.01) were associated with greater DNA methylation of HSD11B2 at the CpG2 site. The statistically significant effects of early childhood adversity (B = 0.11, P < 0.01) and prenatal MA exposure (B = 0.32, P = 0.03) on DNA methylation remained after adjusting for covariates.

Prenatal MA exposure is related to postnatal childhood adversity and epigenetic alterations in HSD11B2, an important gene along the stress response pathway suggesting prenatal and postnatal programming effects.

Prenatal methamphetamine exposure has been associated with developmental issues in newborns, yet little is known about the stress pathophysiology of methamphetamine on neurobehavior. This is the first evidence that prenatal methamphetamine exposure acts as a stressor, confirming the third pathophysiology of methamphetamine exposure.