Prenatal risk factors and neonatal DNA methylation in very preterm infants

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: Marie Camerota, Brown University; Stefan Graw, Emory University; Todd Everson, Emory University; Elisabeth C McGowan, Brown University; Julie A Hofheimer, University of North Carolina; Michael T O'Shea, University of North Carolina; Brian S Carter, Childrens Mercy Hosp; Jennifer B Helderman, Wake Forest School of Medicine; Jennifer Check, Wake Forest School of Medicine; Charles R Neal, University of Hawaii; Steven L Pastyrnak, Spectrum Health-Helen DeVos Hospital; Lynne M Smith, Harbor-UCLA Medical Center; Lynne M Dansereau, Women & Infants Hospital Rhode Island; Sheri A DellaGrotta, Women & Infants Hospital Rhode Island; Carmen Marsit, Emory University; Barry M Lester, Brown University
• Language: English
• Date: 2021-12-01
• Publisher: BMC
• Publication Version: Final Published Version
• Copyright Statement: © The Author(s) 2021
• License: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
• Final Published Version (URL): http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s13148-021-01164-9
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: CLINICAL EPIGENETICS
• Volume: 13
• Issue: 1
• Start Page: 171
• End Page: 171
• Grant/Funding Information: This work was funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH)/Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) grant R01HD072267 (Lester and O’Shea) and R01HD084515 (Lester and Everson). Dr. Camerota was additionally supported by an institutional training grant from the National Institutes of Mental Health (NIMH), grant T32MH019927.
• Keywords: PREGNANCY; Neonatal; Science & Technology; BORN; CHILDHOOD; Buccal; Methylation; GENOME-WIDE ASSOCIATION; DEPRESSION; EXPOSURE; Genetics & Heredity; METAANALYSIS; Preterm; NEURODEVELOPMENTAL OUTCOMES; ADVERSITY; Prenatal; MATERNAL STRESS; Epigenetics; Life Sciences & Biomedicine; Oncology; Epigenome-wide association study (EWAS)
• Research Categories: Health Sciences, Epidemiology; Health Sciences, Mental Health

Abstract

Background: Prenatal risk factors are related to poor health and developmental outcomes for infants, potentially via epigenetic mechanisms. We tested associations between person-centered prenatal risk profiles, cumulative prenatal risk models, and epigenome-wide DNA methylation (DNAm) in very preterm neonates. Methods: We studied 542 infants from a multi-center study of infants born < 30 weeks postmenstrual age. We assessed 24 prenatal risk factors via maternal report and medical record review. Latent class analysis was used to define prenatal risk profiles. DNAm was quantified from neonatal buccal cells using the Illumina MethylationEPIC Beadarray. Results: We identified three latent profiles of women: a group with few risk factors (61%) and groups with elevated physical (26%) and psychological (13%) risk factors. Neonates born to women in higher risk subgroups had differential DNAm at 2 CpG sites. Higher cumulative prenatal risk was associated with methylation at 15 CpG sites, 12 of which were located in genes previously linked to physical and mental health and neurodevelopment. Conclusion: We observed associations between prenatal risk factors and DNAm in very preterm infants using both person-centered and cumulative risk approaches. Epigenetics offers a potential biological indicator of prenatal risk exposure.