Year: 2018
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: Maternal social environmental stressors during pregnancy are associated with adverse birth and child developmental outcomes, and epigenetics has been proposed as a possible mechanism for such relationships. In a Mexican-American birth cohort of 241 maternal-infant pairs, cord blood samples were measured for repeat element DNA methylation ( LINE-1 and Alu ). Linear mixed effects regression was used to model associations between indicators of the social environment (low household income and education, neighborhood-level characteristics) and repeat element methylation. Results from a dietary questionnaire were also used to assess the interaction between maternal diet quality and the social environment on markers of repeat element DNA methylation. After adjusting for confounders, living in the most impoverished neighborhoods was associated with higher cord blood LINE-1 methylation ( β = 0.78, 95%CI 0.06, 1.50, p = 0.03). No other neighborhood-, household-, or individual-level socioeconomic indicators were significantly associated with repeat element methylation. We observed a statistical trend showing that positive association between neighborhood poverty and LINE-1 methylation was strongest in cord blood of infants whose mothers reported better diet quality during pregnancy ( p interaction = 0.12). Our findings indicate a small yet unexpected positive association between neighborhood-level poverty during pregnancy and methylation of repetitive element DNA in infant cord blood and that this association is possibly modified by diet quality during pregnancy. However, our null findings for other adverse SES indicators do not provide strong evidence for an adverse association between early-life socioeconomic environment and repeat element DNA methylation in infants.
Source: Clinical Epigenetics
Institution: University of California, Berkeley
Language: English
Subfield: Molecular Biology
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $3,890
Awards: G1347292224, G2026444946, G2966837117, Molecular Mechanisms of Obesity in Children Exposed to Phthalates in Utero, G3401769250, G3709884776, G3719974503, Long-term sequelae of early life pesticide exposure in the CHAMACOS birth cohort, G4464219147, G5008093558, G5963014056, G6835876344, Center for Children's Environmental Health Research, G6966137936, G7292241015, G789493165, G8220538716, Global Health Emerging Scholars Program
OpenAlex ID: W2807084592