Project description:Variation of maternal gut microbiota may increase the risk of autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) in offspring. Animal studies have indicated that maternal gut microbiota is related to neurodevelopmental abnormalities in mouse offspring, while it is unclear whether there is a correlation between gut microbiota of ASD children and their mothers. We examined the relationships between gut microbiome profiles of ASD children and those of their mothers, and evaluated the clinical discriminatory power of discovered bacterial biomarkers. Gut microbiome was profiled and evaluated by 16S ribosomal RNA gene sequencing in stool samples of 59 mother–child pairs of ASD children and 30 matched mother–child pairs of healthy children. Significant differences were observed in the gut microbiome composition between ASD and healthy children in our Chinese cohort. Several unique bacterial biomarkers, such as Alcaligenaceae and Acinetobacter, were identified. Mothers of ASD children had more Proteobacteria, Alphaproteobacteria, Moraxellaceae, and Acinetobacter than mothers of healthy children. There was a clear correlation between gut microbiome profiles of children and their mothers; however, children with ASD still had unique bacterial biomarkers, such as Alcaligenaceae, Enterobacteriaceae, and Clostridium. Candidate biomarkers discovered in this study had remarkable discriminatory power. The identified patterns of mother–child gut microbiome profiles may be important for assessing risks during the early stage and planning of personalized treatment and prevention of ASD via microbiota modulation.
Project description:This study is being conducted to learn more about family communication of genetic risk information. Semi-structured interviews lasting up to one hour will be conducted with three populations: parent/child pairs at risk for Huntington’s Disease, parent/child pairs at risk for hereditary cancer, and genetic counselors.
Project description:The objective of the present study was to identify the nutrient utilization and the SCFA production potential of gut microbes during the first year of life. The 16S sequencing data represents 100 mother-child pairs, longitudinally for the infants (0, 3mo, 6mo and 12mo) and mothers 18 weeks pregnancy. We wanted to identify the SCFA composition in pregnant woman and their infants through the first year of life, and their correlation to gut bacteria and other influencal factors. Metaproteomics on selected infants were analyzed to look for nutrient sources used by potential SCFA producers.
Project description:<p>This is a study of the oral and gut microbiome of 226 mother-child dyads enrolled in the INSIGHT (Intervention Nurses Start Infants Growing on Healthy Trajectories) study. INSIGHT is a randomized, controlled trial comparing a responsive parenting intervention designed for the primary prevention of childhood obesity against a control. </p> <p>The microbiome portion of the study was designed to investigate the relationship between a cross-sectional view of the child's microbiome (at two years of age) and the patterns of growth between birth and 2 years. These first-born children were deeply studied in this time period with data collected on a wide variety of variables including mode of delivery, sex, weight and height (collected at 7 time points), medication usage, diet information, and maternal health information (gestational weight gain, gestational diabetes, smoking during pregnancy). Microbiome samples from the child (buccal swab and stool sample) and their mother (buccal swab) were collected at the child's 2-year clinical research visit. </p>
Project description:Preterm birth is the major cause of newborn and infant mortality affecting nearly one in every ten live births. This study was designed to develop an epigenetic biomarker for susceptibility of preterm birth using buccal cells from the mother, father, and child (triads). MeDIP-seq was used to identify differential DNA methylation regions (DMRs) using a comparison of control term birth versus preterm birth triads. Epigenetic DMR associations with preterm birth were identified for both the mother and father that were distinct and suggest potential epigenetic contributions from both parents. The mother (165 DMRs) and female child (136 DMRs) at p<1e-04 had the highest number of DMRs and were highly similar suggesting potential epigenetic inheritance of the epimutations. The male child had negligible DMR associations. The DMR associated genes for each group involve previously identified preterm birth associated genes.
Project description:We report that the DNA methylation profile of a child’s neonatal whole blood can be significantly influenced by his or her mother’s neonatal blood lead levels (BLL). We recruited 35 mother-infant pairs in Detroit and measured the whole blood lead (Pb) levels and DNA methylation levels at over 450,000 loci from current blood and neonatal blood from both the mother and the child. We found that mothers with high neonatal BLL correlate with altered DNA methylation at 564 loci in their children’s neonatal blood. Our results suggest that Pb exposure during pregnancy affects the DNA methylation status of the fetal germ cells, which leads to altered DNA methylation in grandchildren’s neonatal dried blood spots. This is the first demonstration that an environmental exposure in pregnant mothers can have an epigenetic effect on the DNA methylation pattern in the grandchildren. For the study, we selected 35 dried blood spots (DBS) collected from mother-infant pairs from Health Fairs ran in three Detroit communities, because they have a high prevalence (8-11%) of high BLL in children. The sample set consisted of 25 male children and 18 female children. We also collected the neonatal DBS and mother neonatal DBS for these mother-infant pairs from the Michigan Neonatal Biobank. Then we measured a blood lead levels in dried blood spots using using atomic absorbtion spectrophotometry. Finally we measured the DNA methylation levels using human methylation 450K array from Illumina. Then we normalized the data for technical biases and tried to infer the the locus specific DNA methylation changes due to Pb exposure which was carried over from the grandmothers to the grandchildren by the Pb –exposed fetal germ cells of the mother using statistical model proposed by Sofer et al, 2012.
Project description:Genome-wide DNA methylation profiling of 251 whole-blood samples from children aged 2 years from the ENID mother-child cohort in The Gambia.