@article{12e93e5c5a734fe38bfdffbdc99e33f9,
title = "Sex-based differences in placental DNA methylation profiles related to gestational age: an NIH ECHO meta-analysis",
abstract = "The placenta undergoes many changes throughout gestation to support the evolving needs of the foetus. There is also a growing appreciation that male and female foetuses develop differently in utero, with unique epigenetic changes in placental tissue. Here, we report meta-analysed sex-specific associations between gestational age and placental DNA methylation from four cohorts in the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) Programme (355 females/419 males, gestational ages 23–42 weeks). We identified 407 cytosine-guanine dinucleotides (CpGs) in females and 794 in males where placental methylation levels were associated with gestational age. After cell-type adjustment, 55 CpGs in females and 826 in males were significant. These were enriched for biological processes critical to the immune system in females and transmembrane transport in males. Our findings are distinct between the sexes: in females, associations with gestational age are largely explained by differences in placental cellular composition, whereas in males, gestational age is directly associated with numerous alterations in methylation levels.",
keywords = "DNA methylation, gestational age, Placenta, sex differences",
author = "{on behalf of program collaborators for Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes} and Bulka, {Catherine M.} and Everson, {Todd M.} and Burt, {Amber A.} and Marsit, {Carmen J.} and Karagas, {Margaret R.} and Boyle, {Kristen E.} and Sierra Niemiec and Katerina Kechris and Davidson, {Elizabeth J.} and Yang, {Ivana V.} and Feinberg, {Jason I.} and Volk, {Heather E.} and Christine Ladd-Acosta and Breton, {Carrie V.} and O{\textquoteright}Shea, {T. Michael} and Fry, {Rebecca C.}",
note = "Funding Information: Research reported in this publication was supported by the Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) programme, Office of The Director, National Institutes of Health, under Award Numbers U2COD023375 (Coordinating Center), UH3OD023348 U24OD023382 (Data Analysis Center), and U24OD023319 (PRO Core). The EARLI study was supported by the National Institutes of Health, under Award Number UH3OD023342 (Craig Newschaffer and Heather Volk). The ELGAN-ECHO study was supported by the National Institutes of Health, under Award Number UH3OD023348 (Rebecca C. Fry and T. Michael O{\textquoteright}Shea). The Healthy Start Study was supported by the National Institutes of Health, under Award Numbers R01DK076648 and UG3OD023248 (Dana Dabelea), and by the Colorado Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute via National Institutes of Health, National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences for maternal visits and collection of birth measures, under Award Number UL1TR001082 (Ronald J. Sokol). The New Hampshire Birth Cohort Study was supported by the National Institutes of Health, under Award Numbers UH3OD023275 and P42ES007373 (Margaret Karagas) and P01ES022832 (Margaret Karagas and Carmen Marsit). Todd Everson and Carmen Marsit were additionally supported by the National Institutes of Health, under Award Number funded under Awarded Number UH3OD023347 (Barry Lester and Carmen Marsit). Carrie Breton was supported by the National Institutes of Health, under Award Number UH3OD023287 (Carrie Breton). The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health. The authors wish to thank our ECHO colleagues, the medical, nursing, and programme staff, as well as the children and families participating in the Early Autism Risk Longitudinal Investigation (EARLI), Extremely Low Gestational Age Newborns (ELGAN), Healthy Start, and the New Hampshire Birth Cohort Study (NHBCS), for their hard work and dedication. We also acknowledge the contribution of the following ECHO programme collaborators: Coordinating Center: Duke Clinical Research Institute, Durham, North Carolina: Phillip B. Smith, Laura K. Newby; Data Analysis Center: Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland: Lisa P. Jacobson; Research Triangle Institute, Durham, North Carolina: Corette B. Parker; Person-Reported Outcomes Core: Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois: Richard Gershon, David Cella; University of California, Davis Medical Center - MIND Institute: Rebecca Schmidt; Kaiser Permanente Northern California Division of Research: Lisa Croen; University of Colorado Denver, Denver, CO: Dana Dabelea. Special thanks to Lisa Smeester (the ELGAN-ECHO biospecimen lead, University of North Carolina), Kyle Roell (data analyst, Institute for Environmental Health Solutions, University of North Carolina), Mercedes Martinez (the Healthy Start ECHO Study project coordinator, Colorado School of Public Health, University of Colorado), and Melanie Kelly (project leader, ECHO Coordinating Center, Duke Clinical Research Institute). Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2023 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.",
year = "2023",
doi = "10.1080/15592294.2023.2179726",
language = "English (US)",
volume = "18",
journal = "Epigenetics",
issn = "1559-2294",
publisher = "Landes Bioscience",
number = "1",
}