Maternal factors associated with DNA methylation-based placental aging

Authors

• T Workalemahu
• D Shrestha
• SM Tajuddin
• F Tekola-Ayele

Abstract

Disruption of the physiological aging of the placenta can lead to several adverse pregnancy outcomes. Recent “epigenetic clock” studies show lifestyle and sociodemographic factors influence tissue age. Maternal factors that predict DNA methylation-based placental aging are largely unknown. We investigated whether maternal socio-demographic factors and genetic ancestry are associated with placental aging. Participants with placental DNA methylation and genotype data (n=301) were obtained from a sub-cohort of low-risk pregnant women of the NICHD Fetal Growth Studies. Participants included self-identified Non-Hispanic Black (n=72), Non-Hispanic White (n=77), Hispanic (n=102), and Asian/Pacific Islander (n=50) race/ethnicities. The Illumina Infinium 450 BeadChip array was used to quantify 400k CpG sites. Placental DNA methylation age was predicted using 62 CpG sites that were known to predict placental aging. Genome-wide proportions of African, European, Native-American, and East-Asian genetic ancestries of the mothers were estimated using ADMIXTURE. Placental DNA methylation age was positively correlated with gestational age at birth (r=0.20;p

Scientific Focus Area: Genetics and Genomics

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