Associations of maternal night shift work during pregnancy with DNA methylation in offspring: a meta-analysis in the PACE consortium
Year: 2025
Type: review
Abstract: Background Night shift work during pregnancy has been associated with differential DNA methylation in placental tissue, but no studies have explored this association in cord blood. We aimed to examine associations of maternal night shift work with cord blood DNA methylation. Methods A total of 4487 mother–newborn pairs from 7 studies were included. Maternal night shift work during pregnancy was ascertained via questionnaires and harmonized into “any” versus “no”. DNA methylation was measured in cord blood using the Illumina Infinium Methylation arrays. Robust linear regression models adjusted for relevant confounders were run in the individual cohorts, and results were meta-analyzed. Results Maternal night shift work during pregnancy ranged from 3.4% to 26.3%. Three CpGs were differentially methylated in relation to maternal night shift work during pregnancy at a false discovery rate adjusted P < 0.05: cg10945885 (estimate ( β ) 0.38%, standard error (SE) 0.07), cg00773359 ( β 0.25%, SE 0.05), and cg21836426 ( β − 0.29%, SE 0.05). Associations of the identified CpGs were found in previous literature for gestational age and childhood and adolescent BMI. In a mouse model of prenatal jet lag exposure, information on offspring DNA methylation of ten homologous genes annotated to the 16 CpGs with P < 1 × 10 −5 in our analysis was available, of which eight were associated (enrichment P : 1.62 × 10 −11 ). Conclusion Maternal night shift work during pregnancy was associated with newborn DNA methylation at 3 CpGs. Top findings overlapped with those in a mouse model of gestational jet lag. This work strengthens evidence that DNA methylation could be a marker or mediator of impacts of circadian rhythm disturbances.
Source: Clinical Epigenetics
Authors: Irene F. Marques, Carola Domènech-Panicello, Madelon L. Geurtsen, Thanh T. Hoang, Rebecca Richmond, Kristen Polinski, Lea Sirignano, Christian M. Page, Anne-Claire Binter, Todd Everson, Amber Burt, Michael Deuschle, Maria Gilles, Fabian Streit, Sunni L. Mumford, Per Magnus, Irwin K. M. Reiss, Marijn J. Vermeulen, Stephanie H. Witt, Inês Chaves, Edwina Yeung, Stephanie J. London, Mònica Guxens, Janine F. Felix
Institutions: Erasmus MC, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Barcelona Institute for Global Health, Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Epidemiología y Salud Pública, Baylor College of Medicine, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Texas Children's Hospital, Dan L Duncan Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of Bristol, University of Oxford, MRC Integrative Epidemiology Unit, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Heidelberg University, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medizinische Fakultät Mannheim, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Emory University, University of Pennsylvania, Erasmus MC Cancer Institute, Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats
Language: English
Subfield: Molecular Biology
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $3,890
Funder: Medical Research Council
Awards: The Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC): A multi-generation, longitudinal resource, The Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children: An international resource for population
genomics and lifecourse epidemiology. Core Programme Support 2011-2015 and Core programme support 2014-2019
OpenAlex ID: W4406727779