title: Effects of Gestational Magnetic Resonance Imaging on Methylation Status of Leptin Promoter in the Placenta and Cord Blood.
abstract: Over the past two decades, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has been widely used for diagnosis in gestational women. Though it has several advantages, animal and human studies on the safety of MRI for the fetus remain inconclusive. Epigenetic modifications, which are crucial for cellular functioning, are prone to being affected by environmental changes. Therefore, we hypothesized that MRI during gestation may cause epigenetic modification alterations. Here, we investigated DNA methylation patterns of leptin promoter in the placenta and cord blood of women exposed to MRI during gestation. Results showed that average methylation levels of leptin in the placenta and cord blood were not affected by MRI. We also found that the methylation levels in the placenta and cord blood were not affected by different magnetic fields (1.5T and 3.0T MRI). However, if pregnant women were exposed to MRI at 15 to 20 weeks of gestation, the methylation level of leptin in cord blood was visibly lower than that of pregnant women exposed to MRI after 20-weeks of gestation (P = 0.037). mRNA expression level of leptin in cord blood was also altered, though mRNA expression of leptin in the placenta was not significantly affected. Therefore, we concluded that gestational MRI may not have major effects on the methylation level of leptin in cord blood and the placenta except for MRI applied before 20 weeks of gestation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, People's Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Henan Provincial People's Hospital, Zhengzhou, Henan, PR. China.
authors.forename: Ying
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, People's Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Henan Provincial People's Hospital, Zhengzhou, Henan, PR. China.
authors.forename: Feng-Shan
authors.initials: FS
authors.lastname: Yan
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, People's Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Henan Provincial People's Hospital, Zhengzhou, Henan, PR. China.
authors.forename: Jian-Min
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Lian
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, People's Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Henan Provincial People's Hospital, Zhengzhou, Henan, PR. China.
authors.forename: She-Wei
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Dou
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D019175:DNA Methylation; D044127:Epigenesis, Genetic; D005260:Female; D005312:Fetal Blood / Q000378:metabolism*; D005865:Gestational Age; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D020738:Leptin / Q000235:genetics*; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D010920:Placenta / Q000378:metabolism*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic / Q000235:genetics*; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction
chemical_list: D020738:Leptin