Impact of acute stress exposure on genome-wide DNA methylation.
Level 3 - non-randomized controlled study
Prospective within-subjects pre-post experimental study without a parallel randomized control group.
PubMed 40615670 · doi:10.1038/s41598-025-09299-y
What was done
Fifty-five adult participants (27 male, 28 female) underwent a laboratory-based acute stress-induction protocol in a within-subjects design. Salivary DNA was evaluated for genome-wide DNA methylation (DNAm) changes following the stress exposure. Researchers also assessed whether psychological stress reactivity and cortisol reactivity predicted post-stress DNAm alterations and epigenetic aging.
What was found
Acute stress induced hypermethylation and hypomethylation at specific CpG sites within the GATA3, NINL, BACH2, PHACTR1, and KRTAP19-3 genes. A sex-specific effect was observed within COL4A1, showing increased DNAm in females and decreased DNAm in males. Psychological stress reactivity predicted post-stress DNAm, whereas cortisol reactivity predicted epigenetic aging. The abstract reported no specific numerical values, effect sizes, or p-values.
Why it matters
This study provides evidence that human DNA methylation can undergo rapid shifts in response to acute experimental stress, with distinct epigenetic correlates for psychological versus endocrine stress responses.
Limits
The sample size is small (N = 55) for genome-wide epigenetic analysis. The abstract does not mention a parallel non-stressed control group to control for time-of-day or salivary flow rate variations. Salivary DNA represents a heterogeneous cell population, and no quantitative effect sizes or statistical values were reported in the abstract.
Cited by
- supports Short-term psychological stress does not significantly affect epigenetic clocks.