ArticlePLoS genetics2010
Season of conception in rural gambia affects DNA methylation at putative human metastable epialleles.
Article in PLoS genetics, 2010. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 227 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
227 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 459 citations in OpenAlex.
- The role of epigenetics in respiratory health in urban populations in low and middle-income countries.Global health, epidemiology and genomics · 2019Pooled it
- Associations between body size, nutrition and socioeconomic position in early life and the epigenome: A systematic review.PloS one · 2018Pooled it
- Maternal BMI at the start of pregnancy and offspring epigenome-wide DNA methylation: findings from the pregnancy and childhood epigenetics (PACE) consortium.Human molecular genetics · 2017Pooled it
- Effects of improved on-farm crop storage on DNA methylation of mothers and their infants: evidence from a randomized controlled trial in Kenya.Clinical epigenetics · 2024Trial
- Maternal Blood Lipid Profile during Pregnancy and Associations with Child Adiposity: Findings from the ROLO Study.PloS one · 2016Trial
- Abnormal Hypermethylation at Imprinting Control Regions in Patients with S-Adenosylhomocysteine Hydrolase (AHCY) Deficiency.PloS one · 2016Trial
- The Potential Physiologic Mechanisms by Which Early-Life Nutrition May Influence Type 2 Diabetes Pathophysiology in Humans.Annual review of nutrition · 2026Review
- Epigenetic Mechanisms in Cleft Lip and Palate: A Comprehensive Review of Current Insights and Future Perspectives.Plastic and reconstructive surgery. Global open · 2026Article
- The Impact of Nutrition on DNA Methylation: Methodological Challenges in Understanding Cause and Effect.Nutrients · 2026Review
- Genetic-epigenetic interactions (meQTLs) in orofacial clefts etiology.Molecular genetics and genomics : MGG · 2026Article
- Emerging opportunities for DNA methylation biomarkers in cattle improvement.The Journal of reproduction and development · 2026Review
- Epigenetics, human imprintome, and chronic diseases.Essays in biochemistry · 2025Review
- Article
- Article
- Genetic-epigenetic interactions (meQTLs) in orofacial clefts etiology.medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2025Article
- RoAM: computational reconstruction of ancient methylomes and identification of differentially methylated regions.Genome biology · 2025Article
- Review
- Mouse metastable epialleles are extremely rare.Nucleic acids research · 2025Article
- Human genomic regions of systemic interindividual epigenetic variation are implicated in neurodevelopmental and metabolic disorders.medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2025Article
- The Molecular Biology of Placental Transport of Calcium to the Human Foetus.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Review
167 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
12 authors at 5 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Throughout most of the mammalian genome, genetically regulated developmental programming establishes diverse yet predictable epigenetic states across differentiated cells and tissues. At metastable epialleles (MEs), conversely, epigenotype is established stochastically in the early embryo then maintained in differentiated lineages, resulting in dramatic and systemic interindividual variation in epigenetic regulation. In the mouse, maternal nutrition affects this process, with permanent phenotypic consequences for the offspring. MEs have not previously been identified in humans. Here, using an innovative 2-tissue parallel epigenomic screen, we identified putative MEs in the human genome. In autopsy samples, we showed that DNA methylation at these loci is highly correlated across tissues representing all 3 embryonic germ layer lineages. Monozygotic twin pairs exhibited substantial discordance in DNA methylation at these loci, suggesting that their epigenetic state is established stochastically. We then tested for persistent epigenetic effects of periconceptional nutrition in rural Gambians, who experience dramatic seasonal fluctuations in nutritional status. DNA methylation at MEs was elevated in individuals conceived during the nutritionally challenged rainy season, providing the first evidence of a permanent, systemic effect of periconceptional environment on human epigenotype. At MEs, epigenetic regulation in internal organs and tissues varies among individuals and can be deduced from peripheral blood DNA. MEs should therefore facilitate an improved understanding of the role of interindividual epigenetic variation in human disease.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.