SynthesisBMC medicine2023
Cord blood epigenome-wide meta-analysis in six European-based child cohorts identifies signatures linked to rapid weight growth.
Synthesis in BMC medicine, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 15 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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Who cites it
15 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 16 citations in OpenAlex.
- Paediatric DNA methylation profile scores: a systematic review and open-source atlas.EBioMedicine · 2026Pooled it
- Epigenetic Mechanisms in Childhood Obesity.Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences · 2025Pooled it
- Mitochondrial signatures of infant mesenchymal stem cells predict child adiposity: The Healthy Start Study.Research square · 2026Article
- Cord blood DNA methylation and cell-type composition are not significantly associated with severe preeclampsia after cell-type and clinical covariate adjustment.GigaScience · 2026Article
- Childhood obesity and DNA methylation in an epigenome-wide association study: findings from the Hokkaido Birth Cohort.Clinical epigenetics · 2025Article
- Unraveling the Genetic Architecture of Obesity: A Path to Personalized Medicine.Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Cell type proportions rather than DNA methylation in the cord blood show significant associations with severe preeclampsia.medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2025Article
- Integrating Genetic Insights, Technological Advancements, Screening, and Personalized Pharmacological Interventions in Childhood Obesity.Advances in therapy · 2025Review
- Maternal Nutrition, Toxicants, and Epigenetic Programming of Obesity Across Generations.Diabetes, metabolic syndrome and obesity : targets and therapy · 2025Review
- Associations of epigenetic age acceleration at birth and age 12 years with adolescent cardiometabolic risk: the HOME study.Clinical epigenetics · 2024Article
- Exploring mitochondrial heteroplasmy in neonates: implications for growth patterns and overweight in the first years of life.International journal of obesity (2005) · 2024Article
- Novel insights from our special issue on maternal factors during pregnancy that influence maternal, fetal and childhood outcomes.BMC medicine · 2024Article
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Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
18 authors at 11 institutions in 9 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundRapid postnatal growth may result from exposure in utero or early life to adverse conditions and has been associated with diseases later in life and, in particular, with childhood obesity. DNA methylation, interfacing early-life exposures and subsequent diseases, is a possible mechanism underlying early-life programming.
methodsHere, a meta-analysis of Illumina HumanMethylation 450K/EPIC-array associations of cord blood DNA methylation at single CpG sites and CpG genomic regions with rapid weight growth at 1 year of age (defined with reference to WHO growth charts) was conducted in six European-based child cohorts (ALSPAC, ENVIRONAGE, Generation XXI, INMA, Piccolipiù, and RHEA, N = 2003). The association of gestational age acceleration (calculated using the Bohlin epigenetic clock) with rapid weight growth was also explored via meta-analysis. Follow-up analyses of identified DNA methylation signals included prediction of rapid weight growth, mediation of the effect of conventional risk factors on rapid weight growth, integration with transcriptomics and metabolomics, association with overweight in childhood (between 4 and 8 years), and comparison with previous findings.
resultsForty-seven CpGs were associated with rapid weight growth at suggestive p-value <1e-05 and, among them, three CpGs (cg14459032, cg25953130 annotated to ARID5B, and cg00049440 annotated to KLF9) passed the genome-wide significance level (p-value <1.25e-07). Sixteen differentially methylated regions (DMRs) were identified as associated with rapid weight growth at false discovery rate (FDR)-adjusted/Siddak p-values < 0.01. Gestational age acceleration was associated with decreasing risk of rapid weight growth (p-value = 9.75e-04). Identified DNA methylation signals slightly increased the prediction of rapid weight growth in addition to conventional risk factors. Among the identified signals, three CpGs partially mediated the effect of gestational age on rapid weight growth. Both CpGs (N=3) and DMRs (N=3) were associated with differential expression of transcripts (N=10 and 7, respectively), including long non-coding RNAs. An AURKC DMR was associated with childhood overweight. We observed enrichment of CpGs previously reported associated with birthweight.
conclusionsOur findings provide evidence of the association between cord blood DNA methylation and rapid weight growth and suggest links with prenatal exposures and association with childhood obesity providing opportunities for early prevention.
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