Selective hypermethylation is evident in small intestine samples from infants with necrotizing enterocolitis.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) is the most common and lethal gastrointestinal disease affecting preterm infants. NEC develops suddenly and is characterized by gut barrier destruction, an inflammatory response, intestinal necrosis and multi-system organ failure. There is currently no method for early NEC detection, and the pathogenesis of NEC remains unclear.

Design

To further understand the molecular mechanisms that support NEC, we used solution phase hybridization and next-generation DNA sequencing of bisulfite converted DNA to perform targeted genome-wide analysis of DNA methylation at high read depth.

Results

We found that ileal samples from surgical NEC infants (n = 5) exist in a broadly hypermethylated state relative to their non-NEC counterparts (n = 

SUBMITTER: Good M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8996588 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature