1. Maternal educational attainment in pregnancy and epigenome-wide DNA methylation changes in the offspring from birth until adolescence.
- Author
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Choudhary, Priyanka, Monasso, Giulietta, Karhunen, Ville, Ronkainen, Justiina, Mancano, Giulia, Howe, Caitlin, Niu, Zhongzheng, Zeng, Xuehuo, Guan, Weihua, Dou, John, Feinberg, Jason, Mordaunt, Charles, Pesce, Giancarlo, Baïz, Nour, Alfano, Rossella, Martens, Dries, Wang, Congrong, Isaevska, Elena, Keikkala, Elina, Mustaniemi, Sanna, Thio, Chris, Fraszczyk, Eliza, Tobi, Elmar, Starling, Anne, Cosin-Tomas, Marta, Urquiza, Jose, Röder, Stefan, Hoang, Thanh, Page, Christian, Jima, Dereje, House, John, Maguire, Rachel, Ott, Raffael, Pawlow, Xenia, Sirignano, Lea, Zillich, Lea, Malmberg, Anni, Rauschert, Sebastian, Melton, Phillip, Gong, Tong, Karlsson, Robert, Fore, Ruby, Perng, Wei, Laubach, Zachary, Czamara, Darina, Sharp, Gemma, Breton, Carrie, Schisterman, Enrique, Yeung, Edwina, Mumford, Sunni, Fallin, M, Bakulski, Kelly, Annesi-Maesano, Isabella, Heude, Barbara, Nawrot, Tim, Plusquin, Michelle, Ghantous, Akram, Herceg, Zdenko, Nisticò, Lorenza, Vafeiadi, Marina, Kogevinas, Manolis, Vääräsmäki, Marja, Kajantie, Eero, Snieder, Harold, Corpeleijn, Eva, Steegers-Theunissen, Regine, Yang, Ivana, Dabelea, Dana, Fossati, Serena, Zenclussen, Ana, Herberth, Gunda, Magnus, Maria, Håberg, Siri, London, Stephanie, Munthe-Kaas, Monica, Murphy, Susan, Hoyo, Cathrine, Ziegler, Anette-G, Hummel, Sandra, Witt, Stephanie, Streit, Fabian, Frank, Josef, Räikkönen, Katri, Lahti, Jari, Huang, Rae-Chi, Almqvist, Catarina, Hivert, Marie-France, Jaddoe, Vincent, Järvelin, Marjo-Riitta, Kantomaa, Marko, Felix, Janine, Sebert, Sylvain, LaSalle, Janine, and Schmidt, Rebecca
- Subjects
Humans ,DNA Methylation ,Female ,Pregnancy ,Adolescent ,Epigenome ,Child ,Educational Status ,Male ,Genome-Wide Association Study ,Epigenesis ,Genetic ,Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects ,Child ,Preschool ,Infant ,Mothers ,Infant ,Newborn ,Adult ,Academic Success - Abstract
Maternal educational attainment (MEA) shapes offspring health through multiple potential pathways. Differential DNA methylation may provide a mechanistic understanding of these long-term associations. We aimed to quantify the associations of MEA with offspring DNA methylation levels at birth, in childhood and in adolescence. Using 37 studies from high-income countries, we performed meta-analysis of epigenome-wide association studies (EWAS) to quantify the associations of completed years of MEA at the time of pregnancy with offspring DNA methylation levels at birth (n = 9 881), in childhood (n = 2 017), and adolescence (n = 2 740), adjusting for relevant covariates. MEA was found to be associated with DNA methylation at 473 cytosine-phosphate-guanine sites at birth, one in childhood, and four in adolescence. We observed enrichment for findings from previous EWAS on maternal folate, vitamin-B12 concentrations, maternal smoking, and pre-pregnancy BMI. The associations were directionally consistent with MEA being inversely associated with behaviours including smoking and BMI. Our findings form a bridge between socio-economic factors and biology and highlight potential pathways underlying effects of maternal education. The results broaden our understanding of bio-social associations linked to differential DNA methylation in multiple early stages of life. The data generated also offers an important resource to help a more precise understanding of the social determinants of health.
- Published
- 2024