Prenatal exposure to common infections and newborn DNA methylation: A prospective, population-based study.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Infections during pregnancy have been robustly associated with adverse mental and physical health outcomes in offspring, yet the underlying molecular pathways remain largely unknown. Here, we examined whether exposure to common infections in utero associates with DNA methylation (DNAm) patterns at birth and whether this in turn relates to offspring health outcomes in the general population.

Methods

Using data from 2,367 children from the Dutch population-based Generation R Study, we first performed an epigenome-wide association study to identify differentially methylated sites and regions at birth associated with prenatal infection exposure. We also examined the influence of infection timing by using self-reported cumulative infection scores for each trimester. Se

SUBMITTER: Suleri A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11784989 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature