Cited by 260Child Abuse and TraumaTelomeres, Telomerase, and SenescenceMitochondrial Function and Pathology

Alterations of mitochondrial DNA copy number and telomere length with early adversity and psychopathology

Open access
Tyrka, Audrey R., Parade, Stephanie H., Price, Lawrence H., Kao, Hung-Teh, Porton, Barbara, Philip, Noah S., Welch, Emma S., Carpenter, Linda L.·2016·Biological Psychiatry

Abstract

Background Telomere shortening and alterations of mitochondrial biogenesis are involved in cellular aging. Childhood adversity is associated with telomere shortening, and several investigations have shown short telomeres in psychiatric disorders. Recent studies have examined whether mitochondria might be involved in neuropsychiatric conditions; findings are limited and no prior work has examined this in relation to stress exposure.Methods Two-hundred ninety healthy adults provided information on childhood parental loss and maltreatment and completed diagnostic interviews. Participants were categorized into four groups based upon the presence or absence of childhood adversity and the presence or absence of lifetime psychopathology (depressive, anxiety, and substance use disorders). Telomere length and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) copy number were measured from leukocyte DNA by quantitative polymerase chain reaction.Results Childhood adversity and lifetime psychopathology were each associated with shorter telomeres (p < .01) and higher mtDNA copy numbers (p < .001). Significantly higher mtDNA copy numbers and shorter telomeres were seen in individuals with major depression, depressive disorders, and anxiety disorders, as well as those with parental loss and childhood maltreatment. A history of substance disorders was also associated with significantly higher mtDNA copy numbers.Conclusions This study provides the first evidence of an alteration of mitochondrial biogenesis with early life stress and with anxiety and substance use disorders. We replicate prior work on telomere length and psychopathology and show that this effect is not secondary to medication use or comorbid medical illness. Finally, we show that early life stress and psychopathology are each associated with these markers of cellular aging.

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1016/j.biopsych.2014.12.025

Cites

93 of 93 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Claims the paper makes

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The self-check needs the paper’s full text.

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Research works printed but not linked: 1

  1. [73]Spielberger CD 1989 State-Trait Anxiety Inventory: A Comprehensive Bibliography Palo Alto, CA Consulting Psychologists Press

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Tyrka, A. R., Parade, S. H., Price, L. H., Kao, H.-T., Porton, B., Philip, N. S., Welch, E. S., & Carpenter, L. L.
Affiliations
  • Brown University (US)
  • Butler Hospital (US)
Corresponding author
Tyrka, Audrey R.
Venue
Biological Psychiatry
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2016-01
Volume
79
Issue
2
Pages
78-86
ISSN
0006-3223 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W2049814665
Cited by
259
References
93
Citations by year
2026: 11 · 2025: 18 · 2024: 20 · 2023: 19 · 2022: 29 · 2021: 26 · 2020: 26 · 2019: 28 · 2018: 21 · 2017: 23 · 2016: 22 · 2015: 16
FWCI
33.94
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Biological Psychiatry (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
Funders
National Institute of Mental Health (R21 MH091508, R01 MH068767-08S1)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child Abuse and Trauma
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Telomeres, Telomerase, and Senescence
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Mitochondrial Function and Pathology
Keywords
mitochondrial DNA copy number, telomere length, childhood adversity, early life stress, child abuse, parental loss, psychopathology, major depressive disorder, anxiety disorders, substance use disorders, cellular aging, mitochondrial biogenesis
MeSH terms
Adolescent, Adult, Aging, Anxiety Disorders, Child Abuse, Major Depressive Disorder, Depressive Disorder, Major, DNA, Mitochondrial, Female, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Psychiatric Status Rating Scales, Stress, Psychological, Biomarkers, Cellular Senescence, Substance-Related Disorders, Young Adult, DNA Copy Number Variations, Telomere Shortening, Parental Death

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review