title: Contrasting the effects of intra-uterine smoking and one-carbon micronutrient exposures on offspring DNA methylation.
abstract: Maternal smoking and micronutrient intake during pregnancy are two strong biological candidates for impacting the developing epigenome. The extent to which DNA methylation in offspring is modified by these intrauterine exposures has not been presented in parallel. In this review, we summarize human studies which have investigated genome-wide DNA methylation in the offspring in relation to maternal smoking and one-carbon micronutrient exposure during pregnancy. We contrast the primarily independent efforts for these two categories of exposure, and potential explanations for these differences. We emphasize methodological considerations such as power to detect methylation signals, exposure assessment, control of sources of variability, causal inference and the role of observed methylation changes in mediating downstream outcomes in the offspring.
authors.affiliation: MRC Integrative Epidemiology Unit, School of Social & Community Medicine, University of Bristol, BS8 2BN, UK.
authors.forename: Rebecca C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Richmond
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709, USA.
authors.forename: Bonnie R
authors.initials: BR
authors.lastname: Joubert
mesh_terms: D019175:DNA Methylation / Q000187:drug effects*; D047108:Embryonic Development; D057890:Epigenomics / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards; D005260:Female; D055106:Genome-Wide Association Study / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards; D006801:Humans; D018977:Micronutrients / Q000172:deficiency / Q000235:genetics* / Q000494:pharmacology; D011247:Pregnancy; D012907:Smoking / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D018977:Micronutrients
keywords: DNA methylation; epigenetic epidemiology; epigenome-wide association study (EWAS); folate; maternal smoking; micronutrients; one-carbon metabolism