Sex differences in DNA methylation across gestation: a large scale, cross-cohort, multi-tissue analysis.

ABSTRACT: Biological sex is a key variable influencing many physiological systems. Disease prevalence as well as treatment success can be modified by sex. Differences emerge already early in life and include pregnancy complications and adverse birth outcomes. The placenta is a critical organ for fetal development and shows sex-based differences in the expression of hormones and cytokines. Epigenetic regulation, such as DNA methylation (DNAm), may underlie the previously reported placental sexual dimorphism. We associated placental DNAm with fetal sex in three cohorts. Individual cohort results were meta-analyzed with random-effects modelling. CpG-sites differentially methylated with sex were further investigated regarding pathway enrichment, overlap with methylation quantitative trait loci (meQTLs),

SUBMITTER: Czamara D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11006734 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature