Placental leptin gene methylation and macrosomia during normal pregnancy

The present study examined the placental leptin (LEP) DNA methylation and mRNA levels in macrosomic infants from normal pregnancies. In total, 49 neonates with macrosomia, i.e., high birth weights of ≥ 4,000 g, and 52 neonates with normal birth weights between 2,500 g and 4,000 g were recruited from The Second Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University (Wenzhou, Zhejiang) in China. Placental LEP promoter methylation and LEP transcript levels were determined by Sequenom MassARRAY and quantitative PCR, respectively. LEP promoter methylation and mRNA levels were not significantly different between the individuals with macrosomia and the controls. However, stratification revealed that individual CpG dinucleotides were hypermethylated in macrosomia (P<0.05) in primiparous females and at 39 weeks of gestation (P<0.05). Variations in methylation did not affect placental LEP expression. It was concluded that the methylation of the placental LEP promoter was altered during a specific gestational period in macrosomia following a normal pregnancy and under certain conditions. However, placental LEP expression was not affected.