Lin Ming-Wei, Tsai Mong-Hsun, Shih Ching-Yu, Tai Yi-Yun, Lee Chien-Nan, Lin Shin-Yu
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan.
Bioinformatics and Biostatistics Core Lab, Centers of Genomic and Precision Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan.
Front Nutr. 2022 May 4;9:829915. doi: 10.3389/fnut.2022.829915. eCollection 2022.
Gestational adaptation occurs soon after fertilization and continues throughout pregnancy, whereas women return to a pre-pregnancy state after delivery and lactation. However, little is known about the role of DNA methylation in fine-tuning maternal physiology. Understanding the changes in DNA methylation during pregnancy is the first step in clarifying the association of diet, nutrition, and thromboembolism with the changes in DNA methylation. In this study, we investigated whether and how the DNA methylation pattern changes in the three trimesters and after delivery in ten uncomplicated pregnancies.
DNA methylation was measured using a Human MethylationEPIC BeadChip. There were 14,018 cytosine-guanine dinucleotide (CpG) sites with statistically significant changes in DNA methylation over the four time periods ( < 0.001). Overall, DNA methylation after delivery was higher than that of the three trimesters ( < 0.001), with the protein ubiquitination pathway being the top canonical pathway involved. We classified the CpG sites into nine groups according to the changes in the three trimesters and found that 38.37% of CpG sites had DNA methylation changes during pregnancy, especially between the first and second trimesters.
DNA methylation pattern changes between trimesters, indicating possible involvement in maternal adaptation to pregnancy. Meanwhile, DNA methylation patterns during pregnancy and in the postpartum period were different, implying that puerperium repair may also function through DNA methylation mechanisms.
妊娠适应在受精后不久就开始，并在整个孕期持续，而女性在分娩和哺乳后会恢复到孕前状态。然而，关于DNA甲基化在微调母体生理过程中的作用，我们知之甚少。了解孕期DNA甲基化的变化是阐明饮食、营养和血栓栓塞与DNA甲基化变化之间关联的第一步。在本研究中，我们调查了10例无并发症妊娠的三个孕期及产后DNA甲基化模式是否以及如何发生变化。
使用人类甲基化EPIC芯片检测DNA甲基化。在四个时间段内，有14,018个胞嘧啶-鸟嘌呤二核苷酸（CpG）位点的DNA甲基化发生了具有统计学意义的变化（<0.001）。总体而言，产后的DNA甲基化高于三个孕期（<0.001），其中蛋白质泛素化途径是涉及的主要经典途径。我们根据三个孕期的变化将CpG位点分为九组，发现38.37%的CpG位点在孕期发生了DNA甲基化变化，尤其是在孕早期和孕中期之间。
孕期各阶段之间的DNA甲基化模式发生变化，表明其可能参与母体对妊娠的适应。同时，孕期和产后的DNA甲基化模式不同，这意味着产褥期修复也可能通过DNA甲基化机制发挥作用。
