Exposure to caregiver maltreatment alters expression levels of epigenetic regulators in the medial prefrontal cortex

• We assessed the impact of early adversity on expression of epigenetic regulators (fold changes in mRNA).
• Minimal fold changes were detected within the infant and adolescent mPFC.
• Adult males and females who experienced maltreatment displayed significant fold changes.
• Data indicate long-term, sex-specific epigenetic changes after early adversity.

Quality of maternal care experienced during infancy is a key factor that can confer vulnerability or resilience to psychiatric disorders later in life. Research continues to indicate that early-life experiences can affect developmental trajectories through epigenetic alterations capable of affecting gene regulation and neural plasticity. Previously, our lab has shown that experiences within an adverse caregiving environment (i.e. maltreatment) produce aberrant DNA methylation patterns at various gene loci in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) of developing and adult rats. This study aimed to determine whether caregiver maltreatment likewise affects expression levels of several genes important in regulating DNA methylation patterns (Dnmt1, Dnmt3a, MeCP2, Gadd45b, and Hdac1). While we observed minimal changes in gene expression within the mPFC of developing rats, we observed expression changes for all genes in adult animals. Specifically, exposure to maltreatment produced a significant decrease in mRNA levels of all epigenetic regulators in adult males and a significant decrease in Gadd45b in adult females. Our results here provide further empirical support for the long-term and sex-specific epigenetic consequences of caregiver maltreatment on the mPFC.