Evidence map›Paper›PMID 27881521›Full record

ArticleBMJ open2016

Is famine exposure during developmental life in rural Bangladesh associated with a metabolic and epigenetic signature in young adulthood? A historical cohort study.

S Finer, M S Iqbal, R Lowe, B W Ogunkolade, S Pervin, C Mathews, M Smart, D S Alam, G A Hitman

Open access · goldAbstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in BMJ open, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 49 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
49citing papers in PubMed, 5 pooled it
25.5field-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

49 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 89 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
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  6. Beyond Deterministic Fetal Programming: Intrauterine Exposures and the Multifactorial Origins of Adiposity.Obesity reviews : an official journal of the International Association for the Study of Obesity · 2026
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  14. Non-coding 886 (Epigenetics · 2024
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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

9 authors at 2 institutions in 3 countries.

S FinerBlizard Institute, Barts and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London, London, London, UK.
M S IqbalCenter for Control and Chronic disease' to Initiative for Non-Communicable Diseases (INCD), Health System and Population Studies Division, ICDDR,B, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
R LoweBlizard Institute, Barts and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London, London, London, UK.
B W OgunkoladeBlizard Institute, Barts and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London, London, London, UK.
S PervinCenter for Control and Chronic disease' to Initiative for Non-Communicable Diseases (INCD), Health System and Population Studies Division, ICDDR,B, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
C MathewsBlizard Institute, Barts and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London, London, London, UK.
M SmartBlizard Institute, Barts and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London, London, London, UK.
D S AlamCenter for Control and Chronic disease' to Initiative for Non-Communicable Diseases (INCD), Health System and Population Studies Division, ICDDR,B, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
G A HitmanBlizard Institute, Barts and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London, London, London, UK.
Queen Mary University of London · GBCenter for Non-Communicable Diseases · PK

Funding

Medical Research Council G0800441
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectivesFamine exposure in utero can 'programme' an individual towards type 2 diabetes and obesity in later life. We sought to identify, (1) whether Bangladeshis exposed to famine during developmental life are programmed towards diabetes and obesity, (2) whether this programming was specific to gestational or postnatal exposure windows and (3) whether epigenetic differences were associated with famine exposure.

designA historical cohort study was performed as part of a wider cross-sectional survey. Exposure to famine was defined through birth date and historical records and participants were selected according to: (A) exposure to famine in postnatal life, (B) exposure to famine during gestation and (C) unexposed.

settingMatlab, a rural area in the Chittagong division of Bangladesh.

participantsYoung adult men and women (n=190) recruited to a historical cohort study with a randomised subsample included in an epigenetic study (n=143). OUTCOME MEASURES: Primary outcome measures of weight, body mass index and oral glucose tolerance tests (0 and 120 min glucose). Secondary outcome measures included DNA methylation using genome-wide and targeted analysis of metastable epialleles sensitive to maternal nutrition.

resultsMore young adults exposed to famine in gestation were underweight than those postnatally exposed or unexposed. In contrast, more young adults exposed to famine postnatally were overweight compared to those gestationally exposed or unexposed. Underweight adults exposed to famine in gestation in utero were hyperglycaemic following a glucose tolerance test, and those exposed postnatally had elevated fasting glucose, compared to those unexposed. Significant differences in DNA methylation at seven metastable epialleles (VTRNA2-1, PAX8, PRDM-9, near ZFP57, near BOLA, EXD3) known to vary with gestational famine exposure were identified.

conclusionsFamine exposure in developmental life programmed Bangladeshi offspring towards diabetes and obesity in adulthood but gestational and postnatal windows of exposure had variable effects on phenotype. DNA methylation differences were replicated at previously identified metastable epialleles sensitive to periconceptual famine exposure.

Indexed as

DNA MethylationMaternal Nutritional Physiological PhenomenaStarvationAdultBangladeshBody Mass IndexBody WeightCross-Sectional StudiesDiabetes Mellitus, Type 2FemaleGenome-Wide Association StudyGlucose Tolerance TestHumansLongitudinal StudiesMaleMiddle AgedBangladeshDevelopmental origins of health and diseaseEpigeneticsFetal programmingMalnutritionSouth Asia

Identifiers

PMID27881521
PMCPMC5168545
OpenAlexW2551024407

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC
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.