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Genetically transmitted factors in children of parents with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) might contribute to their increased risk for PTSD, mood disorders, and anxiety disorders. To learn more, researchers examined methylation of the FKBP5 gene in 32 Holocaust survivors (mean age, 78), their 22 adult children (mean age, 46), 8 Jewish controls who lived outside Europe during World War II (mean age, 73), and 9 of their children (mean age, 47).
Analyses controlled for PTSD, an FKBP5 allele thought to increase PTSD risk, and, in offspring, childhood trauma. In comparisons with nonexposed controls, Holocaust survivors had significantly higher methylation at a site on intron 7 of FKBP5, and Holocaust offspring had significantly lower meth…