Communications Biology (Jan 2024)
A Pregnancy and Childhood Epigenetics Consortium (PACE) meta-analysis highlights potential relationships between birth order and neonatal blood DNA methylation
- Shaobo Li,
- Natalia Spitz,
- Akram Ghantous,
- Sarina Abrishamcar,
- Brigitte Reimann,
- Irene Marques,
- Matt J. Silver,
- Sofía Aguilar-Lacasaña,
- Negusse Kitaba,
- Faisal I. Rezwan,
- Stefan Röder,
- Lea Sirignano,
- Johanna Tuhkanen,
- Giulia Mancano,
- Gemma C. Sharp,
- Catherine Metayer,
- Libby Morimoto,
- Dan J. Stein,
- Heather J. Zar,
- Rossella Alfano,
- Tim Nawrot,
- Congrong Wang,
- Eero Kajantie,
- Elina Keikkala,
- Sanna Mustaniemi,
- Justiina Ronkainen,
- Sylvain Sebert,
- Wnurinham Silva,
- Marja Vääräsmäki,
- Vincent W. V. Jaddoe,
- Robin M. Bernstein,
- Andrew M. Prentice,
- Marta Cosin-Tomas,
- Terence Dwyer,
- Siri Eldevik Håberg,
- Zdenko Herceg,
- Maria C. Magnus,
- Monica Cheng Munthe-Kaas,
- Christian M. Page,
- Maja Völker,
- Maria Gilles,
- Tabea Send,
- Stephanie Witt,
- Lea Zillich,
- Luigi Gagliardi,
- Lorenzo Richiardi,
- Darina Czamara,
- Katri Räikkönen,
- Lida Chatzi,
- Marina Vafeiadi,
- S. Hasan Arshad,
- Susan Ewart,
- Michelle Plusquin,
- Janine F. Felix,
- Sophie E. Moore,
- Martine Vrijheid,
- John W. Holloway,
- Wilfried Karmaus,
- Gunda Herberth,
- Ana Zenclussen,
- Fabian Streit,
- Jari Lahti,
- Anke Hüls,
- Thanh T. Hoang,
- Stephanie J. London,
- Joseph L. Wiemels
Affiliations
- Shaobo Li
- Center for Genetic Epidemiology, Department of Population and Public Health Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles
- Natalia Spitz
- Epigenomics and Mechanisms Branch, International Agency for Research on Cancer
- Akram Ghantous
- Epigenomics and Mechanisms Branch, International Agency for Research on Cancer
- Sarina Abrishamcar
- Department of Epidemiology, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University
- Brigitte Reimann
- Centre for Environmental Sciences, UHasselt, Agoralaan, Building D
- Irene Marques
- The Generation R Study Group, Erasmus MC, University Medical Center Rotterdam
- Matt J. Silver
- Medical Research Council Unit The Gambia at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
- Sofía Aguilar-Lacasaña
- ISGlobal, Institute for Global Health
- Negusse Kitaba
- Human Development and Health, Faculty of Medicine, Southampton General Hospital, University of Southampton
- Faisal I. Rezwan
- Human Development and Health, Faculty of Medicine, Southampton General Hospital, University of Southampton
- Stefan Röder
- Department of Environmental Immunology, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research –UFZ
- Lea Sirignano
- Department of Genetic Epidemiology in Psychiatry, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, University of Heidelberg
- Johanna Tuhkanen
- Department of Psychology and Logopedics, University of Helsinki
- Giulia Mancano
- MRC Integrative Epidemiology Unit, Population Health Sciences, Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol
- Gemma C. Sharp
- MRC Integrative Epidemiology Unit, Population Health Sciences, Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol
- Catherine Metayer
- School of Public Health, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley
- Libby Morimoto
- School of Public Health, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley
- Dan J. Stein
- SAMRC Unit on Risk & Resilience in Mental Disorders, Dept of Psychiatry & Neuroscience Institute, University of Cape Town
- Heather J. Zar
- SAMRC Unit on Risk & Resilience in Mental Disorders, Dept of Psychiatry & Neuroscience Institute, University of Cape Town
- Rossella Alfano
- Centre for Environmental Sciences, UHasselt, Agoralaan, Building D
- Tim Nawrot
- Centre for Environmental Sciences, UHasselt, Agoralaan, Building D
- Congrong Wang
- Centre for Environmental Sciences, UHasselt, Agoralaan, Building D
- Eero Kajantie
- Clinical Medicine Research Unit, Medical Research Center Oulu, Oulu University, Hospital and University of Oulu
- Elina Keikkala
- Clinical Medicine Research Unit, Medical Research Center Oulu, Oulu University, Hospital and University of Oulu
- Sanna Mustaniemi
- Clinical Medicine Research Unit, Medical Research Center Oulu, Oulu University, Hospital and University of Oulu
- Justiina Ronkainen
- Research Unit of Population Health, Faculty of Medicine, University of Oulu
- Sylvain Sebert
- Research Unit of Population Health, Faculty of Medicine, University of Oulu
- Wnurinham Silva
- Research Unit of Population Health, Faculty of Medicine, University of Oulu
- Marja Vääräsmäki
- Clinical Medicine Research Unit, Medical Research Center Oulu, Oulu University, Hospital and University of Oulu
- Vincent W. V. Jaddoe
- The Generation R Study Group, Erasmus MC, University Medical Center Rotterdam
- Robin M. Bernstein
- Department of Anthropology and Institute of Behavioral Science, University of Colorado Boulder
- Andrew M. Prentice
- MRC Unit The Gambia at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine
- Marta Cosin-Tomas
- ISGlobal, Institute for Global Health
- Terence Dwyer
- Nuffield Department of Women’s & Reproductive Health, University of Oxford, John Radcliffe Hospital
- Siri Eldevik Håberg
- Centre for Fertility and Health, Norwegian Institute of Public Health
- Zdenko Herceg
- Epigenomics and Mechanisms Branch, International Agency for Research on Cancer
- Maria C. Magnus
- Centre for Fertility and Health, Norwegian Institute of Public Health
- Monica Cheng Munthe-Kaas
- Department of Pediatric Oncology and Hematology, Oslo University Hospital, Norwegian Institute of Public Health
- Christian M. Page
- Centre for Fertility and Health, Norwegian Institute of Public Health
- Maja Völker
- Department of Genetic Epidemiology in Psychiatry, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, University of Heidelberg
- Maria Gilles
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, University of Heidelberg
- Tabea Send
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, University of Heidelberg
- Stephanie Witt
- Department of Genetic Epidemiology in Psychiatry, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, University of Heidelberg
- Lea Zillich
- Department of Genetic Epidemiology in Psychiatry, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, University of Heidelberg
- Luigi Gagliardi
- Woman and Child Health Department, Ospedale Versilia, AUSL Toscana Nord Ovest
- Lorenzo Richiardi
- Department of Medical Sciences, University of Turin, CPO Piemonte
- Darina Czamara
- Department of Psychology and Logopedics, University of Helsinki
- Katri Räikkönen
- Department of Psychology and Logopedics, University of Helsinki
- Lida Chatzi
- Department of Population and Public Health Sciences, Keck School of Medicine of USC. University of Southern California
- Marina Vafeiadi
- Department of Social Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Crete
- S. Hasan Arshad
- Clinical and Experimental Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Southampton
- Susan Ewart
- College of Veterinary Medicine, Michigan State University
- Michelle Plusquin
- Centre for Environmental Sciences, UHasselt, Agoralaan, Building D
- Janine F. Felix
- The Generation R Study Group, Erasmus MC, University Medical Center Rotterdam
- Sophie E. Moore
- Department of Women & Children’s Health, King’s College London
- Martine Vrijheid
- ISGlobal, Institute for Global Health
- John W. Holloway
- Human Development and Health, Faculty of Medicine, Southampton General Hospital, University of Southampton
- Wilfried Karmaus
- Division of Epidemiology, Biostatistics, and Environmental Health, University of Memphis
- Gunda Herberth
- Department of Environmental Immunology, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research –UFZ
- Ana Zenclussen
- Department of Environmental Immunology, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research –UFZ
- Fabian Streit
- Department of Genetic Epidemiology in Psychiatry, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, University of Heidelberg
- Jari Lahti
- Department of Psychology and Logopedics, University of Helsinki
- Anke Hüls
- Department of Epidemiology, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University
- Thanh T. Hoang
- Epidemiology Branch, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, National Institutes of Health
- Stephanie J. London
- Epidemiology Branch, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, National Institutes of Health
- Joseph L. Wiemels
- Center for Genetic Epidemiology, Department of Population and Public Health Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-023-05698-x
- Journal volume & issue
-
Vol. 7,
no. 1
pp. 1 – 11
Abstract
Abstract Higher birth order is associated with altered risk of many disease states. Changes in placentation and exposures to in utero growth factors with successive pregnancies may impact later life disease risk via persistent DNA methylation alterations. We investigated birth order with Illumina DNA methylation array data in each of 16 birth cohorts (8164 newborns) with European, African, and Latino ancestries from the Pregnancy and Childhood Epigenetics Consortium. Meta-analyzed data demonstrated systematic DNA methylation variation in 341 CpGs (FDR adjusted P < 0.05) and 1107 regions. Forty CpGs were located within known quantitative trait loci for gene expression traits in blood, and trait enrichment analysis suggested a strong association with immune-related, transcriptional control, and blood pressure regulation phenotypes. Decreasing fertility rates worldwide with the concomitant increased proportion of first-born children highlights a potential reflection of birth order-related epigenomic states on changing disease incidence trends.
