Early gestation as the critical time-window for changes in the prenatal environment to affect the adult human blood methylome.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The manipulation of pregnancy diets in animals can lead to changes in DNA methylation with phenotypic consequences in the offspring. Human studies have concentrated on the effects of nutrition during early gestation. Lacking in humans is an epigenome-wide association study of DNA methylation in relation to perturbations in nutrition across all gestation periods.

Methods

We used the quasi-experimental setting of the Dutch famine of 1944-45 to evaluate the impact of famine exposure during specific 10-week gestation periods, or during any time in gestation, on genome-wide DNA methylation levels at age ∼ 59 years. In addition, we evaluated the impact of exposure during a shorter pre- and post-conception period. DNA methylation was assessed using the Illumina 450k arra

SUBMITTER: Tobi EW 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4588866 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature