Cross-Tissue Specificity of Pediatric DNA Methylation Associated with Cumulative Family Adversity

Background Cumulative family adversity (cumulative FA), characterized by co-occurring stressors in a family context, may be biologically embedded through DNA methylation (DNAm) and contribute to later health outcomes. Materials & Methods We compared epigenome-wide DNAm associated with cumulative FA in buccal epithelial cells (BECs; n =218) and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs; n =51) from 7-13-year-old children in Canada, accounting for sex, age, predicted cell-type proportion, and genetic ancestry. Results Higher levels of cumulative FA were associated with DNAm at seven sites, primarily in stress- and immune-related genes, only in PBMCs. Negative mother-child interaction contributed to this association. Conclusions The findings of this study suggested that PBMC DNAm can be used as a marker for biological embedding of cumulative FA.