Open AccessEpigenome-wide association study of maternal hemoglobin A1c in pregnancy and cord blood DNA methylation
Author(s) -
Diana L. Juvinao-Quintero,
Anne P. Starling,
Andrés Cárdenas,
Camille E. Powe,
Patrice Perron,
Luigi Bouchard,
Dana Dabelea,
MarieFrance Hivert
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
epigenomics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.265
H-Index - 60
eISSN - 1750-1911
pISSN - 1750-192X
DOI - 10.2217/epi-2020-0279
Subject(s) - dnam , mendelian randomization , biology , dna methylation , cord blood , offspring , pregnancy , epigenome , umbilical cord , placenta , physiology , bioinformatics , fetus , andrology , genetics , gene , genotype , medicine , genetic variants , gene expression
Background: Gestational hyperglycemia is associated with adverse perinatal outcomes and long-term offspring metabolic programming, likely through dysregulation of DNA methylation (DNAm). Materials & methods: We tested associations between maternal HbA1c and cord blood DNAm among 412 mother-child pairs in the genetics of glucose regulation in gestation and growth (Gen3G) and implemented Mendelian randomization to infer causality. We sought replication in an independent sample from Healthy Start. Results: Higher second trimester HbA1c levels were associated with lower DNAm at cg21645848 (p = 3.9 × 10 -11 ) near URGCP . Mendelian randomization and replication analyses showed same direction of effect between HbA1c and DNAm at cg21645848, but did not reach statistical significance. Conclusion: We found that higher maternal glycemia reflected by HbA1c is associated with cord blood DNAm at URGCP , a gene related with inflammatory pathways.