Epigenetic Mechanisms of Early Adverse Experience in the Development of Depression / 대한정신약물학회지

ABSTRACT

Depression is a common mental illness with a high lifetime prevalence rate in the general population. However, the pathophysiology of depression is still poorly understood. Recent studies showed that environmental factors can affect gene expression by modifying epigenetic factors. Early life stress (ELS) is likely a risk factor of lifetime vulnerability to stress and development of depression. ELS or stressful lifetime can induce changes in gene expression through epigenetic mechanism, such as DNA methylation or histone modification. In this article, recent researches on the epigenetic mechanisms of depression will be discussed.