Epigenetics (Jan 2022)
Maternal haemoglobin levels in pregnancy and child DNA methylation: a study in the pregnancy and childhood epigenetics consortium
- Justiina Ronkainen,
- Anni Heiskala,
- Florianne O.L. Vehmeijer,
- Estelle Lowry,
- Doretta Caramaschi,
- Guadalupe Estrada Gutierrez,
- Jonathan A. Heiss,
- Nadine Hummel,
- Elina Keikkala,
- Tuomas Kvist,
- Allison Kupsco,
- Phillip E. Melton,
- Giancarlo Pesce,
- Munawar H. Soomro,
- Marta Vives-Usano,
- Nour Baiz,
- Elisabeth Binder,
- Darina Czamara,
- Mònica Guxens,
- Sanna Mustaniemi,
- Stephanie J. London,
- Sebastian Rauschert,
- Marja Vääräsmäki,
- Martine Vrijheid,
- Anette-G. Ziegler,
- Isabella Annesi-Maesano,
- Mariona Bustamante,
- Rae-Chi Huang,
- Sandra Hummel,
- Allan C. Just,
- Eero Kajantie,
- Jari Lahti,
- Deborah Lawlor,
- Katri Räikkönen,
- Marjo-Riitta Järvelin,
- Janine F. Felix,
- Sylvain Sebert
Affiliations
- Justiina Ronkainen
- University of Oulu
- Anni Heiskala
- University of Oulu
- Florianne O.L. Vehmeijer
- University Medical Center Rotterdam
- Estelle Lowry
- University of Oulu
- Doretta Caramaschi
- University of Bristol
- Guadalupe Estrada Gutierrez
- National Institute of Perinatology
- Jonathan A. Heiss
- Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
- Nadine Hummel
- Institute of Diabetes Research, Helmholtz Zentrum München, German Research Center for Environmental Health
- Elina Keikkala
- PEDEGO Research Unit, MRC Oulu, Oulu University Hospital and University of Oulu
- Tuomas Kvist
- University of Helsinki
- Allison Kupsco
- Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health
- Phillip E. Melton
- Curtin University
- Giancarlo Pesce
- Sorbonne Université, Institut Pierre Louis D’épidémiologie Et De Santé Publique (IPLESP)
- Munawar H. Soomro
- Sorbonne Université, Institut Pierre Louis D’épidémiologie Et De Santé Publique (IPLESP)
- Marta Vives-Usano
- Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG), the Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology
- Nour Baiz
- Sorbonne Université, Institut Pierre Louis D’épidémiologie Et De Santé Publique (IPLESP)
- Elisabeth Binder
- Max-Planck-Institute of Psychiatry
- Darina Czamara
- Max-Planck-Institute of Psychiatry
- Mònica Guxens
- CIBER Epidemiología Y Salud Pública (CIBERESP)
- Sanna Mustaniemi
- PEDEGO Research Unit, MRC Oulu, Oulu University Hospital and University of Oulu
- Stephanie J. London
- National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, National Institutes of Health
- Sebastian Rauschert
- Telethon Kids Institute, University of Western Australia
- Marja Vääräsmäki
- PEDEGO Research Unit, MRC Oulu, Oulu University Hospital and University of Oulu
- Martine Vrijheid
- CIBER Epidemiología Y Salud Pública (CIBERESP)
- Anette-G. Ziegler
- Institute of Diabetes Research, Helmholtz Zentrum München, German Research Center for Environmental Health
- Isabella Annesi-Maesano
- Sorbonne Université, Institut Pierre Louis D’épidémiologie Et De Santé Publique (IPLESP)
- Mariona Bustamante
- CIBER Epidemiología Y Salud Pública (CIBERESP)
- Rae-Chi Huang
- Telethon Kids Institute, University of Western Australia
- Sandra Hummel
- Institute of Diabetes Research, Helmholtz Zentrum München, German Research Center for Environmental Health
- Allan C. Just
- Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
- Eero Kajantie
- PEDEGO Research Unit, MRC Oulu, Oulu University Hospital and University of Oulu
- Jari Lahti
- University of Helsinki
- Deborah Lawlor
- University of Bristol
- Katri Räikkönen
- University of Helsinki
- Marjo-Riitta Järvelin
- University of Oulu
- Janine F. Felix
- University Medical Center Rotterdam
- Sylvain Sebert
- University of Oulu
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1080/15592294.2020.1864171
- Journal volume & issue
-
Vol. 17,
no. 1
pp. 19 – 31
Abstract
Altered maternal haemoglobin levels during pregnancy are associated with pre-clinical and clinical conditions affecting the fetus. Evidence from animal models suggests that these associations may be partially explained by differential DNA methylation in the newborn with possible long-term consequences. To test this in humans, we meta-analyzed the epigenome-wide associations of maternal haemoglobin levels during pregnancy with offspring DNA methylation in 3,967 newborn cord blood and 1,534 children and 1,962 adolescent whole-blood samples derived from 10 cohorts. DNA methylation was measured using Illumina Infinium Methylation 450K or MethylationEPIC arrays covering 450,000 and 850,000 methylation sites, respectively. There was no statistical support for the association of maternal haemoglobin levels with offspring DNA methylation either at individual methylation sites or clustered in regions. For most participants, maternal haemoglobin levels were within the normal range in the current study, whereas adverse perinatal outcomes often arise at the extremes. Thus, this study does not rule out the possibility that associations with offspring DNA methylation might be seen in studies with more extreme maternal haemoglobin levels.
Keywords
