A recent study of human cord blood found a correlation between maternal mood and neonatal methylation status of glucocorticoid receptor 1F30. This study reported that increased site-specific methylation of an NGFI-A response element of glucocorticoid receptor 1F is linked to an enhanced cortisol stress response in infants. Maternal mood disorders are associated with decreased maternal sensitivity and impaired mother-infant interactions31, as well as with an increased risk for depression in the offspring32. Decreased hippocampal glucocorticoid receptor expression associates with depression12, and psychotic and severe forms of depression are commonly associated with increased HPA activity13,33. Thus, our findings suggest that the transmission of vulnerability for depression from parent to offspring could occur, in part, through the epigenetic modification of genomic regions that are implicated in the regulation of stress responses.
