Effect of an antenatal diet and lifestyle intervention and maternal BMI on cord blood DNA methylation in infants of overweight and obese women: The LIMIT Randomised Controlled Trial

Jennie Louise; Andrea R Deussen; Berthold Koletzko; Julie Owens; Richard Saffery; Jodie M Dodd

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0269723

Effect of an antenatal diet and lifestyle intervention and maternal BMI on cord blood DNA methylation in infants of overweight and obese women: The LIMIT Randomised Controlled Trial

PLoS One. 2022 Jun 24;17(6):e0269723. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0269723. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Jennie Louise¹, Andrea R Deussen¹, Berthold Koletzko², Julie Owens³, Richard Saffery^{4

5}, Jodie M Dodd^{1

6}

Affiliations

¹ Discipline of Obstetrics & Gynaecology and The Robinson Research Institute, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.
² Division of Metabolic and Nutritional Medicine, Dept. Paediatrics, Dr. von Hauner Children's Hospital, LMU-Ludwig-Maximilian-Universität, Munich, Germany.
³ Deputy Vice-Chancellor's Research Office, Deakin University, Geelong, Australia.
⁴ Epigenetics Group, Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Royal Children's Hospital, Parkville, Victoria, Australia.
⁵ Department of Paediatrics, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia.
⁶ Department of Perinatal Medicine, Women's and Babies Division, The Women's and Children's Hospital, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.

Abstract

Background: To investigate the effect of an antenatal diet and lifestyle intervention, and maternal pre-pregnancy overweight or obesity, on infant cord blood DNA methylation.

Methods: We measured DNA methylation in 645 cord blood samples from participants in the LIMIT study (an antenatal diet and lifestyle intervention for women with early pregnancy BMI ≥25.0 kg/m2) using the Illumina 450K BeadChip array, and tested for any differential methylation related to the intervention, and to maternal early pregnancy BMI. We also analysed differential methylation in relation to selected candidate genes.

Results: No CpG sites were significantly differentially methylated in relation to either the diet and lifestyle intervention, or with maternal early pregnancy BMI. There was no significant differential methylation in any of the selected genes related to the intervention, or to maternal BMI.

Conclusion: We found no evidence of an effect of either antenatal diet and lifestyle, or of maternal early pregnancy BMI, on cord blood DNA methylation.

Clinical trials registration: ACTRN12607000161426.

Publication types

Randomized Controlled Trial
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Body Mass Index
DNA Methylation
Diet
Female
Fetal Blood
Humans
Infant
Life Style
Obesity / genetics
Obesity / therapy
Overweight* / genetics
Overweight* / therapy
Pregnancy
Pregnancy Complications*
Prenatal Care

Associated data

ANZCTR/ACTRN12607000161426

Grants and funding

The LIMIT Randomised Trial was funded by an NHMRC grant (ID519240), awarded to JMD. Funding for the DNA methylation analysis was from the Commission of the European Communities, the 7th Framework Programme, contract FP7-289346-EARLY NUTRITION, awarded to BK. JMD was also supported by NHMRC Practitioner Fellowships (ID627005 and ID1078980) and Investigator Grant (ID1196133). BK is supported by the European Joint Programming Initiative Project NutriPROGRAM and the German Ministry of Education and Research, Berlin (Grant Nr. 01 GI 0825). BK is the Else Kröner Seniorprofessor of Paediatrics at LMU – University of Munich, financially supported by the Else Kröner-Fresenius-Foundation, the LMU Medical Faculty and the LMU University Hospitals. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript