1Department of Psychology, Queens College, CUNY, Flushing, NY, USA.
Reprod Sci. 2014 Jan;21(1):131-7. doi: 10.1177/1933719113492206. Epub 2013 Jun 13.
Emerging evidence indicates that maternal medical risk during pregnancy, such as gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM), preeclampsia, and obesity, predisposes the offspring to suboptimal development. However, the underlying biological/epigenetic mechanism in utero is still unknown. The current pilot study (N = 50) compared the levels of global methylation in the placenta and umbilical cord blood among women with and without each risk condition (GDM, preeclampsia, and obesity) and explored whether the levels of global methylation were associated with fetal/infant growth. Results show that global methylation levels in the placenta were lower in patients with gestational diabetes (P = .003) and preeclampsia (P = .05) but higher with obesity (P = .01). Suggestive negative associations were found between global methylation level in the placenta and infant body length and head circumference. While preliminary, it is possible that the placenta tissue, but not umbilical cord blood, may be epigenetically programmed by maternal GDM, preeclampsia, and obesity to carry out its own specific functions that influence fetal growth.
新出现的证据表明，孕妇在妊娠期间的医疗风险，如妊娠糖尿病（GDM）、先兆子痫和肥胖，使后代发育不良的风险增加。然而，子宫内潜在的生物学/表观遗传机制尚不清楚。本研究（N=50）比较了患有和不患有每种风险条件（GDM、先兆子痫和肥胖）的女性胎盘和脐血中的全球甲基化水平，并探讨了全球甲基化水平是否与胎儿/婴儿生长有关。结果表明，患有妊娠糖尿病（P=0.003）和先兆子痫（P=0.05）的患者胎盘的全球甲基化水平较低，但肥胖患者（P=0.01）的水平较高。胎盘组织中的全球甲基化水平与婴儿的身长和头围呈负相关。虽然这只是初步研究，但胎盘组织而不是脐血可能会受到母体 GDM、先兆子痫和肥胖的表观遗传编程，以执行其自身特定的功能，从而影响胎儿的生长。
