showing 4 related works from this author
Genome-wide association studies identify 137 genetic loci for DNA methylation biomarkers of aging
2021
Abstract Background Biological aging estimators derived from DNA methylation data are heritable and correlate with morbidity and mortality. Consequently, identification of genetic and environmental contributors to the variation in these measures in populations has become a major goal in the field. Results Leveraging DNA methylation and SNP data from more than 40,000 individuals, we identify 137 genome-wide significant loci, of which 113 are novel, from genome-wide association study (GWAS) meta-analyses of four epigenetic clocks and epigenetic surrogate markers for granulocyte proportions and plasminogen activator inhibitor 1 levels, respectively. We find evidence for shared genetic loci ass…
Maternal and fetal genetic effects on birth weight and their relevance to cardio-metabolic risk factors
2019
AbstractBirth weight (BW) variation is influenced by fetal and maternal genetic and non-genetic factors, and has been reproducibly associated with future cardio-metabolic health outcomes. These associations have been proposed to reflect the lifelong consequences of an adverse intrauterine environment. In earlier work, we demonstrated that much of the negative correlation between BW and adult cardio-metabolic traits could instead be attributable to shared genetic effects. However, that work and other previous studies did not systematically distinguish the direct effects of an individual’s own genotype on BW and subsequent disease risk from indirect effects of their mother’s correlated genoty…
Maternal and fetal genetic contribution to gestational weight gain
2018
Background: Clinical recommendations to limit gestational weight gain (GWG) imply high GWG is causally related to adverse outcomes in mother or offspring, but GWG is the sum of several inter-related complex phenotypes (maternal fat deposition and vascular expansion, placenta, amniotic fluid and fetal growth). Understanding the genetic contribution to GWG could help clarify the potential effect of its different components on maternal and offspring health. Here we explore the genetic contribution to total, early and late GWG. Participants and methods: A genome-wide association study was used to identify maternal and fetal variants contributing to GWG in up to 10 543 mothers and 16 317 offspri…
DNA methylation links prenatal smoking exposure to later life health outcomes in offspring
2019
Background Maternal smoking during pregnancy is associated with adverse offspring health outcomes across their life course. We hypothesize that DNA methylation is a potential mediator of this relationship. Methods We examined the association of prenatal maternal smoking with offspring blood DNA methylation in 2821 individuals (age 16 to 48 years) from five prospective birth cohort studies and perform Mendelian randomization and mediation analyses to assess whether methylation markers have causal effects on disease outcomes in the offspring. Results We identify 69 differentially methylated CpGs in 36 genomic regions (P value < 1 × 10−7) associated with exposure to maternal smoking in adolesc…