Marked methylation changes in intestinal genes during the perinatal period of preterm neonates.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The serious feeding- and microbiota-associated intestinal disease, necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC), occurs mainly in infants born prematurely (5-10% of all newborns) and most frequently after formula-feeding. We hypothesized that changes in gene methylation is involved in the prenatal maturation of the intestine and its response to the first days of formula feeding, potentially leading to NEC in preterm pigs used as models for preterm infants.

Results

Reduced Representation Bisulfite Sequencing (RRBS) was used to assess if changes in intestinal DNA methylation are associated with formula-induced NEC outbreak and advancing age from 10 days before birth to 4 days after birth. Selected key genes with differentially methylated gene regions (DMRs) between groups were f

SUBMITTER: Gao F 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4153944 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature