Previous research has shown that epigenetic markers, like DNA methylation, reflect environmental exposures and can predict disease outcomes. The immune system is known to be involved the development of mental health problems and is one of the main body systems that regulates the response to various environmental risk factors. Therefore, the epigenome of immune cells could carry valuable information about the role of the immune system in mental health. Recent studies show that epigenetic markers of inflammation outperform circulating inflammatory protein levels in predicting inflammation-related diseases, due to their higher temporal stability, which may better capture chronic inflammation. Also, epigenetic processes are involved in developmental programming of both the immune system and nervous system, making epigenetic markers attractive for studying developmental origins of immune-related mental health risk. When applying such epigenetic markers in research on the immune-mental health link, developmental stages need to be considered, to elucidate epigenetic timing effects. With this project, we aim to explore the potential of epigenetic biomarkers to study how immune activation throughout development contributes to the risk of mental health problems, as a potential resilience mechanism in response to environmental risk factors.

This project is embedded in the Youth-GEMs project, an european consortium on gene-environment interactions in mental health trajectories of youth (ALSPAC proposal B3879).