Raza, Zara;
Hussain, Syeda F;
Foster, Victoria S;
Wall, Joseph;
Coffey, Peter J;
Martin, John F;
Gomes, Renata SM;
(2023)
Exposure to war and conflict: The individual and inherited epigenetic effects on health, with a focus on post-traumatic stress disorder.
Frontiers in Epidemiology
, 3
, Article 1066158. 10.3389/fepid.2023.1066158.
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Abstract
War and conflict are global phenomena, identified as stress-inducing triggers for epigenetic modifications. In this state-of-the-science narrative review based on systematic principles, we summarise existing data to explore the outcomes of these exposures especially in veterans and show that they may result in an increased likelihood of developing gastrointestinal, auditory, metabolic and circadian issues, as well as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). We also note that, despite a potential "healthy soldier effect", both veterans and civilians with PTSD exhibit the altered DNA methylation status in hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis regulatory genes such as NR3C1. Genes associated with sleep (PAX8; LHX1) are seen to be differentially methylated in veterans. A limited number of studies also revealed hereditary effects of war exposure across groups: decreased cortisol levels and a heightened (sex-linked) mortality risk in offspring. Future large-scale studies further identifying the heritable risks of war, as well as any potential differences between military and civilian populations, would be valuable to inform future healthcare directives.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Exposure to war and conflict: The individual and inherited epigenetic effects on health, with a focus on post-traumatic stress disorder |
| Location: | Switzerland |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.3389/fepid.2023.1066158 |
| Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.3389/fepid.2023.1066158 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | © 2023 Raza, Hussain, Foster, Wall, Coffey, Martin and Gomes. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms. |
| Keywords: | PTSD, conflict, epigenetics, healthy soldier effect, inherited epigenetics, stress, trauma, war |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > Institute of Ophthalmology |
| URI: | https://discovery-pp.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10189539 |
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