Department of Nutritional Medicine, Interactive Research School for Health Affairs, Bharati Vidyapeeth University, Pune, India.
DNA Cell Biol. 2011 Feb;30(2):79-84. doi: 10.1089/dna.2010.1084. Epub 2010 Nov 2.
Maternal nutrition is an important determinant of one-carbon metabolism that lies at the heart of intrauterine epigenetic programming. Exchange of nutrients and other vital molecules between the mother and fetus takes place across the placenta and hence may play direct role in fetal programming. Pre-eclampsia (PE) originates in the placenta and altered maternal nutrition may influence epigenetic patterns in the placenta, thereby affecting birth outcome. In the present study, we investigated the global DNA methylation levels in placentas of pre-eclampsia women (i.e., women delivering at term and those delivering preterm) and studied their associations with maternal blood pressure and birth outcome. Increased homocysteine and global DNA methylation levels were seen in the pre-eclampsia group (term and preterm PE) when compared with the normotensive group (p < 0.05). A positive association between global DNA methylation and systolic (p < 0.01) and diastolic (p < 0.05) blood pressure was seen in the term pre-eclampsia group, whereas there was no association with birth outcome. The study for the first time provides evidence for altered global DNA methylation patterns in pre-eclampsia placentas and its association with blood pressure. It is possible that increased homocysteine levels may be related to increased methylation in pre-eclampsia.
母体营养是一碳代谢的重要决定因素，而一碳代谢是子宫内表观遗传编程的核心。母亲和胎儿之间的营养物质和其他重要分子的交换是通过胎盘进行的，因此可能直接参与胎儿编程。子痫前期（PE）起源于胎盘，改变母体营养可能会影响胎盘的表观遗传模式，从而影响出生结局。在本研究中，我们调查了子痫前期妇女（即足月和早产分娩的妇女）胎盘的全基因组 DNA 甲基化水平，并研究了它们与母体血压和出生结局的关系。与正常血压组相比，子痫前期组（足月和早产 PE）的同型半胱氨酸和全基因组 DNA 甲基化水平升高（p<0.05）。在足月子痫前期组中，全基因组 DNA 甲基化与收缩压（p<0.01）和舒张压（p<0.05）呈正相关，而与出生结局无关。该研究首次提供了证据，证明子痫前期胎盘存在全基因组 DNA 甲基化模式改变及其与血压的关联。同型半胱氨酸水平升高可能与子痫前期甲基化增加有关。
