Evidence map›Paper›PMID 23742113›Full record

ArticleParticle and fibre toxicology2013

Placental DNA hypomethylation in association with particulate air pollution in early life.

Bram G Janssen, Lode Godderis, Nicky Pieters, Katrien Poels, Michał Kiciński, Ann Cuypers, Frans Fierens, Joris Penders, Michelle Plusquin, Wilfried Gyselaers and 1 more

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Particle and fibre toxicology, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 107 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
107citing papers in PubMed, 3 pooled it
11.5field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

107 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 221 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Pooled it
  4. Trial
  5. Review
  6. Article
  7. Article
  8. Review
  9. Article
  10. Review
  11. Review
  12. Maternal PMReproductive toxicology (Elmsford, N.Y.) · 2026
    Article
  13. Article
  14. Article
  15. Article
  16. Review
  17. Review
  18. Article
  19. Review
  20. Article

47 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

11 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.

Bram G Janssen
Lode Godderis
Nicky Pieters
Katrien Poels
Michał Kiciński
Ann Cuypers
Frans Fierens
Joris Penders
Michelle Plusquin
Wilfried Gyselaers
Tim S Nawrot
Hasselt University · BEKU Leuven · BEZiekenhuis Oost-Limburg · BEBelgian Development Agency · BE

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundThere is evidence that altered DNA methylation is an important epigenetic mechanism in prenatal programming and that developmental periods are sensitive to environmental stressors. We hypothesized that exposure to fine particles (PM2.5) during pregnancy could influence DNA methylation patterns of the placenta.

methodsIn the ENVIRONAGE birth cohort, levels of 5'-methyl-deoxycytidine (5-mdC) and deoxycytidine (dC) were quantified in placental DNA from 240 newborns. Multiple regression models were used to study placental global DNA methylation and in utero exposure to PM2.5 over various time windows during pregnancy.

resultsPM2.5 exposure during pregnancy averaged (25th-75th percentile) 17.4 (15.4-19.3) μg/m3. Placental global DNA methylation was inversely associated with PM2.5 exposures during whole pregnancy and relatively decreased by 2.19% (95% confidence interval [CI]: -3.65, -0.73%, p = 0.004) for each 5 μg/m3 increase in exposure to PM2.5. In a multi-lag model in which all three trimester exposures were fitted as independent variables in the same regression model, only exposure to PM2.5 during trimester 1 was significantly associated with lower global DNA methylation (-2.13% per 5 μg/m3 increase, 95% CI: -3.71, -0.54%, p = 0.009). When we analyzed shorter time windows of exposure within trimester 1, we observed a lower placental DNA methylation at birth during all implantation stages but exposure during the implantation range (6-21d) was strongest associated (-1.08% per 5 μg/m3 increase, 95% CI: -1.80, -0.36%, p = 0.004).

conclusionsWe observed a lower degree of placental global DNA methylation in association with exposure to particulate air pollution in early pregnancy, including the critical stages of implantation. Future studies should elucidate genome-wide and gene-specific methylation patterns in placental tissue that could link particulate exposure during in utero life and early epigenetic modulations.

Indexed as

AdolescentAdultBiomarkersDeoxycytidineDNA MethylationEpigenesis, GeneticFemaleGestational AgeHumansInfant, NewbornInhalation ExposureMaternal ExposureParticulate MatterPlacentaPregnancyPregnancy Trimesters5-methyldeoxycytidineBiomarkersDeoxycytidineParticulate Matter

Identifiers

PMID23742113
PMCPMC3686623
OpenAlexW2143882086

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.