TY - JOUR
T1 - Erythrocyte folate concentrations, CpG methylation at genomically imprinted domains, and birth weight in a multiethnic newborn cohort
AU - Hoyo, Cathrine
AU - Daltveit, Anne Kjersti
AU - Iversen, Edwin
AU - Benjamin-Neelon, Sara E.
AU - Fuemmeler, Bernard
AU - Schildkraut, Joellen
AU - Murtha, Amy P.
AU - Overcash, Francine
AU - Vidal, Adriana C.
AU - Wang, Frances
AU - Huang, Zhiqing
AU - Kurtzberg, Joanne
AU - Seewaldt, Victoria
AU - Forman, Michele
AU - Jirtle, Randy L.
AU - Murphy, Susan K.
N1 - Funding Information:
We are grateful to the participants of the NEST project, without whom this work would not have been possible. We are also grateful to Stacy Murray, Kennetra Irby, Siobhan Greene and Anna Tsent for their recruiting efforts and Carole Grenier, Erin Erginer, Cara Davis and Allison Barratt for excellent technical assistance. This work was funded by NIH R01-ES016772.
PY - 2014/5/22
Y1 - 2014/5/22
N2 - Epigenetic mechanisms are proposed to link maternal concentrations of methyl group donor nutrients with the risk of low birth weight. however, empirical data are lacking. We have examined the association between folate and birth weight and assessed the mediating role of DNA methylation at nine differentially methylated regions (DMRs) of genomically imprinted genes in these associations. compared with newborns of women with folate levels in the lowest quartile, birth weight was higher in newborns of mothers in the second (β= 143.2, se = 63.2, P = 0.02), third (β= 117.3, se = 64.0, P = 0.07), and fourth (β= 133.9, se = 65.2, P = 0.04) quartiles, consistent with a threshold effect. This pattern of association did not vary by race/ethnicity but was more apparent in newborns of non-obese women. DNA methylation at the PLAGL1, SGCE, DLK1/MEG3 and IGF2/H19 DMRs was associated with maternal folate levels and also birth weight, suggestive of threshold effects. MEG3 DMR methylation mediated the association between maternal folate levels and birth weight (P = 0.06). While the small sample size and partial scope of examined DMRs limit our conclusions, our data suggest that, with respect to birth weight, no additional benefits may be derived from increased maternal folate concentrations, especially in non-obese women. These data also support epigenetic plasticity as a key mechanistic response to folate availability during early fetal development.
AB - Epigenetic mechanisms are proposed to link maternal concentrations of methyl group donor nutrients with the risk of low birth weight. however, empirical data are lacking. We have examined the association between folate and birth weight and assessed the mediating role of DNA methylation at nine differentially methylated regions (DMRs) of genomically imprinted genes in these associations. compared with newborns of women with folate levels in the lowest quartile, birth weight was higher in newborns of mothers in the second (β= 143.2, se = 63.2, P = 0.02), third (β= 117.3, se = 64.0, P = 0.07), and fourth (β= 133.9, se = 65.2, P = 0.04) quartiles, consistent with a threshold effect. This pattern of association did not vary by race/ethnicity but was more apparent in newborns of non-obese women. DNA methylation at the PLAGL1, SGCE, DLK1/MEG3 and IGF2/H19 DMRs was associated with maternal folate levels and also birth weight, suggestive of threshold effects. MEG3 DMR methylation mediated the association between maternal folate levels and birth weight (P = 0.06). While the small sample size and partial scope of examined DMRs limit our conclusions, our data suggest that, with respect to birth weight, no additional benefits may be derived from increased maternal folate concentrations, especially in non-obese women. These data also support epigenetic plasticity as a key mechanistic response to folate availability during early fetal development.
KW - Birth weight
KW - Epidemiology
KW - Epigenetics
KW - Folate
KW - Imprinted genes
KW - Methylation
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U2 - 10.4161/epi.29332
DO - 10.4161/epi.29332
M3 - Article
C2 - 24874916
AN - SCOPUS:84905657773
SN - 1559-2294
VL - 9
SP - 1120
EP - 1130
JO - Epigenetics
JF - Epigenetics
IS - 8
ER -