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PMID: 18955703 Published · ppublish English Journal Article Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Persistent epigenetic differences associated with prenatal exposure to famine in humans.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America ·Vol. 105 ·No. 44 ·2008-11-04 ·Pages 17046-9

Heijmans BT, Tobi EW, Stein AD, Putter H, Blauw GJ, Susser ES, Slagboom PE, Lumey LH

Abstract

Extensive epidemiologic studies have suggested that adult disease risk is associated with adverse environmental conditions early in development. Although the mechanisms behind these relationships are unclear, an involvement of epigenetic dysregulation has been hypothesized. Here we show that individuals who were prenatally exposed to famine during the Dutch Hunger Winter in 1944-45 had, 6 decades later, less DNA methylation of the imprinted IGF2 gene compared with their unexposed, same-sex siblings. The association was specific for periconceptional exposure, reinforcing that very early mammalian development is a crucial period for establishing and maintaining epigenetic marks. These data are the first to contribute empirical support for the hypothesis that early-life environmental conditions can cause epigenetic changes in humans that persist throughout life.

MeSH Terms
Adult Birth Weight DNA Methylation Epigenesis, Genetic Female Humans Insulin-Like Growth Factor II/genetics,metabolism Pregnancy Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects/genetics Prenatal Nutritional Physiological Phenomena/genetics Starvation/epidemiology,genetics
Chemicals
IGF2 protein, human Insulin-Like Growth Factor II
Authors & Affiliations
8 authors, click to expand affiliations / ORCID
Heijmans Bastiaan T
Departments of Molecular Epidemiology, Medical Statistics, and Gerontology and Geriatrics, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands. [email protected]
Tobi Elmar W
Stein Aryeh D
Putter Hein
Blauw Gerard J
Susser Ezra S
Slagboom P Eline
Lumey L H
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Article Info
Journal
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Abbr.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A
ISSN
1091-6490
DOI
10.1073/pnas.0806560105
Email
[email protected]
Published
2008-11-04
Epub
2008-00-27
Pages
17046-9
Language
English
Region
United States
NLM ID
7505876
PMCID
PMC2579375
Subset
IM
Grants
NHLBI NIH HHS · R01 HL067914 · United States
NHLBI NIH HHS · R01-HL067914 · United States
External Links
PubMed source DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0806560105 PMC Full Text View journal details
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