DNA Methylation and Gene Expression in Blood and Adipose Tissue of Adult Offspring of Women with Diabetes in Pregnancy—A Validation Study of DNA Methylation Changes Identified in Adolescent Offspring

Maternal obesity and offspring metabolism: revisiting dietary interventions

Maternal obesity increases the risk of metabolic disorders in offspring. Understanding the mechanisms underlying the transgenerational transmission of metabolic diseases is important for the metabolic health of future generations. More research is needed to elucidate the mechanisms underlying the associated risks and their clinical implications because of the inherently complex nature of transgenerational metabolic disease transmission. Diet is a well-recognized risk factor for the development of obesity and other metabolic diseases, and rational dietary interventions are potential therapeutic strategies for their prevention. Despite extensive research on the physiological effects of diet on health and its associated mechanisms, little work has been devoted to understanding the effects of early-life dietary interventions on the metabolic health of offspring. In addition, existing dietary interventions are insufficient to meet clinical needs. Here, we discuss the literature on the effects of maternal obesity on the metabolic health of offspring, focusing on the mechanisms underlying the transgenerational transmission of metabolic diseases. We revisit current dietary interventions and describe their strengths and weaknesses in ameliorating maternal obesity-induced metabolism-related disorders in offspring. We also propose innovative strategies, such as the use of precision nutrition and fecal microbiota transplantation, which may limit the vicious cycle of intergenerational metabolic disease transmission.

Newborn adiposity is associated with cord blood DNA methylation at IGF1R and KLF7

OBJECTIVE

This study aimed to identify whether cord blood DNA methylation at specific loci is associated with neonatal adiposity, a key risk factor for childhood obesity.

METHODS

An epigenome-wide association study was conducted using the Hyperglycemia and Adverse Pregnancy Outcome (HAPO) Study as a discovery sample. Linear regression models adjusted for maternal and offspring covariates and cell counts were used to analyze associations between neonatal adiposity as measured by sum of three skinfold thicknesses and cord blood DNA methylation. Assays were performed with Illumina EPIC arrays (791,359 CpG sites after quality control). Replication was performed in an independent cohort, Genetics of Glucose regulation in Gestation and Growth (Gen3G).

RESULTS

In 2740 HAPO samples, significant associations were identified at 89 CpG sites after accounting for multiple testing (Bonferroni-adjusted p < 0.05). Replication analyses conducted in 139 Gen3G participants confirmed associations for seven CpG sites. These included IGF1R, which encodes a transmembrane receptor involved in cell growth and survival that binds insulin-like growth factor I and insulin, and KLF7, which encodes a regulator of cell proliferation and inhibitor of adipogenesis; both are key regulators of growth during fetal life.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings support epigenetic mechanisms in the developmental origins of neonatal adiposity and as potential biomarkers of metabolic disease risk.

ESM1 May Be Used as a New Indicator for the Diagnosis and Prognosis of Early and Advanced Stage Digestive Tract Cancers

Background

The biological function and prognostic significance of endothelial cell specific molecule 1 (ESM1) in various cancers have been validated. This study aimed to explore the expression and clinical diagnosis values in patients with stomach adenocarcinoma (STAD) and esophageal carcinoma (ESCA).

Methods

Online database Gene Expression Omnibus was used to screen for abnormally expressed genes in STAD and ESCA. Besides, 36 STAD and 36 ESCA patients were enrolled, and their corresponding control groups were also 36 people each. Reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction and Western blot were performed to analyze the expression of ESM1. Overall survival (OS) curve and receiver operating characteristics curve (ROC) analysis were used to assess the prognosis, and the sensitivity and specificity of ESM1 for the diagnosis of STAD and ESCA, respectively. Additionally, the effects of ESM1 on cell viability, migration, and invasion were analyzed by cell counting kit-8, transwell migration and invasion assays.

Results

The results showed that the poor OS of STAD and ESCA patients was correlated with high ESM1. Besides, ESM1 was increased in ESCA and STAD in in vivo and in vitro studies. ESM1 has a high accuracy [area under the curve (AUC) > 0.79] at stage I and IV of STAD and ESCA. Knockdown of ESM1 suppressed the cell viability, migration, and invasion and increased the apoptosis rate of AGS and TE1 cells.

Conclusion

Our study suggested that ESM1 might be used as a new indicator for the diagnosis and prognosis of early and advanced stage digestive tract cancers.

Diabetes Mellitus and Pregnancy: An Insight into the Effects on the Epigenome

Worldwide, diabetes mellitus represents a growing health problem. If it occurs during pregnancy, it can increase the risk of various abnormalities in early and advanced life stages of exposed individuals due to fetal programming occurring in utero. Studies have determined that maternal conditions interfere with the genotypes and phenotypes of offspring. Researchers are now uncovering the mechanisms by which epigenetic alterations caused by diabetes affect the expression of genes and, therefore, the development of various diseases. Among the numerous possible epigenetic changes in this regard, the most studied to date are DNA methylation and hydroxymethylation, as well as histone acetylation and methylation. This review article addresses critical findings in epigenetic studies involving diabetes mellitus, including variations reported in the expression of specific genes and their transgenerational effects.

An unwelcome inheritance: childhood obesity after diabetes in pregnancy

Diabetes in pregnancy affects 20 million women per year and is associated with increased risk of obesity in offspring, leading to insulin resistance and cardiometabolic disease. Despite the substantial public health ramifications, relatively little is known about the pathophysiological mechanisms underlying obesity in these high-risk children, which creates a barrier to successful intervention. While maternal glucose itself is undeniably a major stimulus upon intrauterine growth, the degree of offspring hyperinsulinism and disturbed lipid metabolism in mothers and offspring are also likely to be implicated in the disease process. The aim of this review is to summarise current understanding of the pathophysiology of childhood obesity after intrauterine exposure to maternal hyperglycaemia and to highlight possible opportunities for intervention. I present here a new unified hypothesis for the pathophysiology of childhood obesity in infants born to mothers with diabetes, which involves self-perpetuating twin cycles of pancreatic beta cell hyperfunction and altered lipid metabolism, both acutely and chronically upregulated by intrauterine exposure to maternal hyperglycaemia.