Maternal Nutrition at Conception Modulates DNA Methylation of Human Metastable Epialleles

    April 2014 in “ Nature communications ”
    Paula Domínguez-Salas, Sophie E. Moore, Maria S. Baker, Andrew W. Bergen, Sharon E. Cox, Roger Dyer, Anthony J. C. Fulford, Yongtao Guan, Eleonora Laritsky, Matt J. Silver, Gary E. Swan, Steven H. Zeisel, Sheila M. Innis, Robert A. Waterland, Andrew M. Prentice, Branwen J. Hennig
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    TLDR A mother's diet at conception can cause lasting genetic changes in her child.
    In a study conducted in rural Gambia, researchers found that the maternal diet around the time of conception, influenced by seasonal variations in food availability, affected DNA methylation at metastable epialleles in their offspring. The study demonstrated that the intake of methyl-donor nutrients by mothers led to significant changes in 13 plasma biomarkers, which in turn predicted alterations in the methylation levels of these epialleles in the DNA of lymphocytes and hair follicles of the infants. These findings suggest that the nutritional status of mothers during early pregnancy can lead to lasting epigenetic changes in their children.
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