Altered maternal haemoglobin levels during pregnancy are associated with pre-clinical and clinical conditions affecting the fetus. Evidence from animal models suggests that these associations may be partially explained by differential DNA methylation in the newborn with possible long-term consequences. To test this in humans, we meta-analyzed the epigenome-wide associations of maternal haemoglobin levels during pregnancy with offspring DNA methylation in 3,967 newborn cord blood and 1,534 children and 1,962 adolescent whole-blood samples derived from 10 cohorts. DNA methylation was measured using Illumina Infinium Methylation 450K or MethylationEPIC arrays covering 450,000 and 850,000 methylation sites, respectively. There was no statistical support for the association of maternal haemoglobin levels with offspring DNA methylation either at individual methylation sites or clustered in regions. For most participants, maternal haemoglobin levels were within the normal range in the current study, whereas adverse perinatal outcomes often arise at the extremes. Thus, this study does not rule out the possibility that associations with offspring DNA methylation might be seen in studies with more extreme maternal haemoglobin levels.
FörderungenEuropean Union's Horizon 2020 Novo Nordisk Foundation Foundation for Pediatric Research Horizon2020 grant for RECAP Research on Children and Adults Born Preterm UK Medical Research Council National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences Biocenter Oulu Academy of Finland Signe and Ane Gyllenberg Foundation Sigrid Juselius Foundation Department of Health, Western Australia FutureHealth fund National Health and Medical Research Council EU University of Oulu Graduate School National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences National Health and Medical Research Council Fellowship Grants Juho Vainio Foundation Research Funds of Oulu University Hospital Miguel Servet fellowship from the Institute of Health Carlos III Finnish Medical Association European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program