CD4⁺ T-cell DNA methylation changes during pregnancy significantly correlate with disease-associated methylation changes in autoimmune diseases.

ABSTRACT: Epigenetics may play a central, yet unexplored, role in the profound changes that the maternal immune system undergoes during pregnancy and could be involved in the pregnancy-induced modulation of several autoimmune diseases. We investigated changes in the methylome in isolated circulating CD4⁺ T-cells in non-pregnant and pregnant women, during the 1^st and 2^nd trimester, using the Illumina Infinium Human Methylation 450K array, and explored how these changes were related to autoimmune diseases that are known to be affected during pregnancy. Pregnancy was associated with several hundreds of methylation differences, particularly during the 2^nd trimester. A network-based modular approach identified several genes, e.g., CD28, FYN, VAV1 and pat

SUBMITTER: Badam TV 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9487751 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature