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DNA methylation and socioeconomic status in a Mexican-American birth cohort.

ABSTRACT: Background:Maternal social environmental stressors during pregnancy are associated with adverse birth and child developmental outcomes, and epigenetics has been proposed as a possible mechanism for such relationships. Methods:In a Mexican-American birth cohort of 241 maternal-infant pairs, cord blood samples were measured for repeat element DNA methylation (LINE-1 and Alu). Linear mixed effects regression was used to model associations between indicators of the social environment (low household income and education, neighborhood-level characteristics) and repeat element methylation. Results from a dietary questionnaire were also used to assess the interaction between maternal diet quality and the social environment on markers of repeat element DNA methylation. Results:After adjusting for confounders, living in the most impoverished neighborhoods was associated with higher cord blood LINE-1 methylation (??=?0.78, 95%CI 0.06, 1.50, p?=?0.03). No other neighborhood-, household-, or individual-level socioeconomic indicators were significantly associated with repeat element methylation. We observed a statistical trend showing that positive association between neighborhood poverty and LINE-1 methylation was strongest in cord blood of infants whose mothers reported better diet quality during pregnancy (pinteraction = 0.12). Conclusion:Our findings indicate a small yet unexpected positive association between neighborhood-level poverty during pregnancy and methylation of repetitive element DNA in infant cord blood and that this association is possibly modified by diet quality during pregnancy. However, our null findings for other adverse SES indicators do not provide strong evidence for an adverse association between early-life socioeconomic environment and repeat element DNA methylation in infants.

SUBMITTER: Coker ES

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5941629 | biostudies-literature | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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DNA methylation and socioeconomic status in a Mexican-American birth cohort.

Coker Eric S ES Gunier Robert R Huen Karen K Holland Nina N Eskenazi Brenda B

Clinical epigenetics 20180508

<h4>Background</h4>Maternal social environmental stressors during pregnancy are associated with adverse birth and child developmental outcomes, and epigenetics has been proposed as a possible mechanism for such relationships.<h4>Methods</h4>In a Mexican-American birth cohort of 241 maternal-infant pairs, cord blood samples were measured for repeat element DNA methylation (<i>LINE-1</i> and <i>Alu</i>). Linear mixed effects regression was used to model associations between indicators of the socia ...[more]

PMID: 29760810

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Project description:BackgroundGestational lead (Pb) exposure can adversely affect offspring health through multiple mechanisms, including epigenomic alterations via DNA methylation (5mC) and hydroxymethylation (5hmC), an intermediate in oxidative demethylation. Most current methods do not distinguish between 5mC and 5hmC, limiting insights into their individual roles.ObjectiveOur study sought to identify the association of trimester-specific (T1, T2, T3) prenatal Pb exposure with 5mC and 5hmC levels at multiple cytosine-phosphate-guanine sites within gene regions previously associated with prenatal Pb (HCN2, NINJ2, RAB5A, TPPP) in whole blood leukocytes of children ages 11-18 years of age.MethodsParticipants from the Early Life Exposure in Mexico to Environmental Toxicants (ELEMENT) birth cohorts were selected (n=144) for pyrosequencing analysis following oxidative or standard sodium bisulfite treatment. This workflow directly quantifies total methylation (5mC+5hmC) and 5mC only; 5hmC is estimated by subtraction.ResultsParticipants were 51% male, and mean maternal blood lead levels (BLL) were 6.43±5.16μg/dL in Trimester 1 (T1), 5.66±5.21μg/dL in Trimester 2 (T2), and 5.86±4.34μg/dL in Trimester 3 (T3). In addition, 5hmC levels were calculated for HCN2 (mean±standard deviation(SD), 2.08±4.18%), NINJ2 (G/C: 2.01±5.95; GG: 0.90±3.97), RAB5A (0.66±0.80%), and TPPP (1.11±6.67%). Furthermore, 5mC levels were measured in HCN2 (81.3±9.63%), NINJ2 (heterozygotes: 38.6±7.39%; GG homozygotes: 67.3±9.83%), RAB5A (1.41±1.21%), and TPPP (92.5±8.03%). Several significant associations between BLLs and 5mC/5hmC were identified: T1 BLLs with 5mC in HCN2 (β=-0.37, p=0.03) and 5hmC in NINJ2 (β=0.49, p=0.003); T2 BLLs with 5mC in HCN2 (β=0.37, p=0.03) and 5hmC in NINJ2 (β=0.27, p=0.008); and T3 BLLs with 5mC in HCN2 (β=0.50, p=0.01) and NINJ2 (β=-0.35, p=0.004) and 5hmC in NINJ2 (β=0.45, p<0.001). NINJ2 5mC was negatively correlated with gene expression (Pearson r=-0.5, p-value=0.005), whereas 5hmC was positively correlated (r=0.4, p-value=0.04).DiscussionThese findings suggest there is variable 5hmC in human whole blood and that prenatal Pb exposure is associated with gene-specific 5mC and 5hmC levels at adolescence, providing evidence to consider 5hmC as a regulatory mechanism that is responsive to environmental exposures. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP8507.

Dataset Information

DNA methylation and socioeconomic status in a Mexican-American birth cohort.

Publications

DNA methylation and socioeconomic status in a Mexican-American birth cohort.

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