Maternal and infant NR3C1 and SLC6A4 epigenetic signatures of the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown: When timing matters

This database includes the raw data linked with the paper “Maternal and infant NR3C1 and SLC6A4 epigenetic signatures of the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown: When timing matters” published on Translational Psychiatry, doi: 10.1038/s41398-022-02160-0. This publication is part of the longitudinal and multi-centric “Measuring the outcomes of maternal COVID-19-related prenatal exposure (MOM-COPE)” research project. In this paper, we report data on NR3C1 and SLC6A4 methylation status in Italian mothers and infants who were exposed to the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown during different trimesters of pregnancy.

Procedures: 283 mother-infant dyads were enrolled at delivery. Within 24 hours from delivery, buccal cells were collected to assess NR3C1 (44 CpG sites) and SLC6A4 (13 CpG sites) methylation status. Mothers self-reported on depressive symptoms and anxiety by replying to an online adapted version of the well-validated Beck Depression Inventory and State-Trait Anxiety questionnaires, respectively.

Analytical plan: Principal component (PC) analyses were used to reduce methylation data dimension to one PC per maternal and infant gene methylation. Mother-infant dyads were split into three groups based on the pregnancy trimester during which they were exposed to the COVID-19 lockdown. To assess the presence of significant differences in maternal and infant methylation of SLC6A4 and NR3C1 genes by pregnancy trimester of exposure to the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown, four separate one-way ANOVAs were carried out with Trimester (levels: third, second, first) as the between-subject variable and each of the methylation PCs.

Findings in brief: Mothers and infants who were exposed to the lockdown during the first trimester of pregnancy had lower NR3C1 and SLC6A4 methylation when compared to counterparts exposed during the second or third trimesters. The effect remained significant after controlling for confounders.