Prenatal Exposure to the Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda is associated with DNA methylation at candidate genes in early adulthood: the role of trauma severity and postnatal adversity
Bibliographic record
Abstract
Abstract We investigated associations between prenatal genocidal trauma, including maternal rape, and postnatal adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) on DNA methylation of genes associated with the stress response. In a comparative cross-sectional study of 91 Rwandan young adults, categorized by prenatal exposure to genocide and maternal rape, genocide without rape, and unexposed controls, we analyzed DNA methylation from dried blood spots and assessed ACEs and mental health at age 24. Prenatal exposure to maternal rape was associated with DNA methylation changes in BDNF and SLC6A4 , with the association in BDNF attenuated by ACEs exposure. Genocide exposure without rape was associated with methylation changes in PRDM8 after adjusting for early adversity. Methylation in BDNF and SLC6A4 correlated with mental health scores. These findings underscore the impact of prenatal and postnatal trauma on DNA methylation and mental health, emphasizing the need for continued support for survivors in the decades after conflict.
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How this classification was reachedexpand
Full frame machine prediction
Teacher imitationNot calibrated prevalence, not ground truth. Human validation pending. The Gemma side is a direct model label for every work in the frame, read from the title-only record. The Codex side is a classifier learned from the 10,348 direct Codex labels and calibrated to design-weighted sample rates; fields without enough sample support carry no Codex call. Candidate is the union of the two sides; consensus is their intersection. These outputs are machine_predicted_unvalidated and are not human labels.
Distilled classifier scores by category (both heads)
| Category | Codex | Gemma |
|---|---|---|
| Metaresearch | 0.000 | 0.001 |
| Meta-epidemiology (narrow) | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Meta-epidemiology (broad) | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Bibliometrics | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Science and technology studies | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Scholarly communication | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Open science | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Research integrity | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Insufficient payload (model declined to judge) | 0.002 | 0.000 |
Machine scores (provisional)
The two teacher heads of the student model, read on this work. A score orders the frame for review; it never asserts a category, and the validation status ships verbatim with every row.
Baseline scores from an immature model (maturity gate not passed, 7 training rounds). Scores rank; they never assert a category.
score_only:v0-immature-baseline · verbatim from the scoring run: score_only means the number may rank works, and no category label ships from itClassification
machine, unvalidatedMachine predicted; a candidate call from one source (direct Gemma or distilled Codex), not a consensus.
How this classification was reached, model by model and score by score, is at the end of the page under "How this classification was reached".