DNA methylation in infants with low and high body fatness
Metadatos
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Springer Nature
Date
2020-11-09Referencia bibliográfica
Henriksson, P., Lentini, A., Altmäe, S., Brodin, D., Müller, P., Forsum, E., ... & Löf, M. (2020). DNA methylation in infants with low and high body fatness. BMC genomics, 21(1), 1-9. [doi:10.1186/s12864-020-07169-7]
Patrocinador
Swedish Research Council Formas; Swedish Research Council 2015-03495; Swedish Cancer Society CAN 2017/625; Spanish Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness (MINE CO); European Union (EU) RYC-2016-21199 ENDORE SAF2017-87526; Linkoping University Library; Bo and Vera Ax:son Johnsons FoundationRésumé
Background: Birth weight is determined by the interplay between infant genetics and the intrauterine
environment and is associated with several health outcomes in later life. Many studies have reported an association
between birth weight and DNA methylation in infants and suggest that altered epigenetics may underlie
birthweight-associated health outcomes. However, birth weight is a relatively nonspecific measure of fetal growth
and consists of fat mass and fat-free mass which may have different effects on health outcomes which motivates
studies of infant body composition and DNA methylation. Here, we combined genome-wide DNA methylation
profiling of buccal cells from 47 full-term one-week old infants with accurate measurements of infant fat mass and
fat-free mass using air-displacement plethysmography.
Results: No significant association was found between DNA methylation in infant buccal cells and infant body
composition. Moreover, no association between infant DNA methylation and parental body composition or
indicators of maternal glucose metabolism were found.
Conclusions: Despite accurate measures of body composition, we did not identify any associations between infant
body fatness and DNA methylation. These results are consistent with recent studies that generally have identified
only weak associations between DNA methylation and birthweight. Although our results should be confirmed by
additional larger studies, our findings may suggest that differences in DNA methylation between individuals with
low and high body fatness may be established later in childhood.