Differential Placental DNA Methylation of in Extremely Preterm Infants With Poorer Neurological Functioning.

BACKGROUND

Understanding underlying mechanisms of neurodevelopmental impairment following preterm birth may enhance opportunities for targeted interventions. We aimed to assess whether placental DNA methylation of selected genes affected early neurological functioning in preterm infants.

METHODS

We included 43 infants, with gestational age <30 weeks and/or birth weight <1,000 g and placental samples at birth. We selected genes based on their associations with several prenatal conditions that may be related to poor neurodevelopmental outcomes. We determined DNA methylation using pyrosequencing, and neurological functioning at 3 months post-term using Prechtl's General Movement Assessment, including the Motor Optimality Score-Revised (MOS-R).

RESULTS

Twenty-four infants had atypical MOS-R, 19 infants had near-optimal MOS-R. We identified differences in average methylation of (encoding for the glucocorticoid receptor) [3.3% (95%-CI: 2.4%-3.9%) for near-optimal vs. 2.3% (95%-CI: 1.7%-3.0%), = 0.008 for atypical], and at three of the five individual CpG-sites. For and we found no differences between the groups.

CONCLUSION

Hypomethylation of in placental tissue is associated with poorer neurological functioning at 3 months post-term in extremely preterm infants. Alleviating stress during pregnancy and its impact on preterm infants and their neurodevelopmental outcomes should be further investigated.