Patel Priyadarshni, Shen Angela, Perez Cynthia, Kennedy Elizabeth M, Shankar Kartik, Pearson Kevin J, Andres Aline, Everson Todd M
Gangarosa Department of Environmental Health, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, 1518 Clifton Road NE, 1518-002-2BB, Atlanta, GA, 30322, USA.
Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, School of Medicine, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA.
Sci Rep. 2025 Aug 12;15(1):29597. doi: 10.1038/s41598-025-13951-y.
Placental gestational age acceleration (GAA) is the difference between the actual gestational age (GA) at birth and their estimated epigenetic gestational age (EGA), which is calculated from placental DNA methylation. Understanding the role of placental GAA in postnatal growth trajectories is crucial for early identification of infants at risk of altered growth patterns and associated long-term health outcomes. The objective of this study is to investigate the association between placental GAA and longitudinal growth trajectories specifically weight, height, fat mass, and lean mass gain in early childhood. This study uses placental DNA methylation at birth to calculate epigenetic GAA and longitudinal measures of weight, height, fat mass, and lean mass to generate growth trajectory characteristics. Higher placental GAA was significantly associated with slower weight gain (95% CI [- 0.03, - 0.001]) and fat mass (95% CI [- 0.08, - 0.02]) gain, as well as reduced average fat mass (95% CI [add this]) over the follow-up period. However, no significant associations were found between GAA and height or lean mass gain. Placental GAA can give early insights into altered postnatal growth trajectories, particularly for weight and fat mass where an increase in GAA is associated with decreased weight and fatmass gain over time while we observed no effect on height and lean mass. Understanding these associations offers insights into early developmental patterns and long-term health outcomes in children, highlighting the importance of perinatal factors in shaping growth trajectories in early childhood.
胎盘孕龄加速（GAA）是指出生时的实际孕周（GA）与其通过胎盘DNA甲基化计算得出的表观遗传孕周（EGA）之间的差异。了解胎盘GAA在出生后生长轨迹中的作用对于早期识别有生长模式改变风险及相关长期健康结局的婴儿至关重要。本研究的目的是调查胎盘GAA与纵向生长轨迹之间的关联，特别是幼儿期的体重、身高、脂肪量和瘦体重增加情况。本研究利用出生时的胎盘DNA甲基化来计算表观遗传GAA，并通过体重、身高、脂肪量和瘦体重的纵向测量来生成生长轨迹特征。较高的胎盘GAA与体重增加较慢（95%CI[-0.03，-0.001]）和脂肪量增加较慢（95%CI[-0.08，-0.02]）显著相关，以及在随访期间平均脂肪量减少（95%CI[添加此项]）。然而，未发现GAA与身高或瘦体重增加之间存在显著关联。胎盘GAA可以为出生后生长轨迹的改变提供早期见解，特别是对于体重和脂肪量而言，GAA增加与体重和脂肪量随时间增加减少相关，而我们观察到对身高和瘦体重没有影响。了解这些关联有助于深入了解儿童的早期发育模式和长期健康结局，突出围产期因素在塑造幼儿期生长轨迹中的重要性。
