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Early life lipid profile and metabolic programming in very young children

K P J Wijnands1, S A Obermann-Borst1, R P M Steegers-Theunissen2

  • 1Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Erasmus MC, University Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.

Nutrition, Metabolism, and Cardiovascular Diseases : NMCD
|April 5, 2015
PubMed

Insights

Childhood cholesterol levels are linked to epigenetic changes in tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNFα) and leptin (LEP) genes, potentially influencing long-term cardiovascular disease risk.

Area of Science:

  • Epigenetics
  • Metabolic Programming
  • Cardiovascular Health

Background:

  • Early life lipid profiles may cause lasting epigenetic alterations.
  • Metabolic programming in infancy can impact future health.
  • Investigating early lipid-epigenetic links is crucial for developmental origins of health and disease (DOHaD).

Purpose of the Study:

  • To examine associations between serum lipids in young children and DNA methylation of TNFα and LEP.
  • To determine if maternal lipid profiles influence child DNA methylation.

Main Methods:

  • Analysis of serum lipid profiles and whole blood DNA methylation in 120 children at 17 months.
  • Utilized linear mixed models to assess exposure-specific differences.
  • Adjusted for covariates including gestational age, birth weight, sex, breastfeeding, and education.

Main Results:

  • Childhood total cholesterol correlated with reduced TNFα methylation.
  • HDL-cholesterol in children was associated with decreased methylation of both TNFα and LEP.
  • Maternal HDL-cholesterol showed an association with decreased child TNFα methylation.

Conclusions:

  • Childhood lipid levels are associated with epigenetic changes, supporting the DOHaD hypothesis.
  • These epigenetic modifications may influence future cardiovascular disease susceptibility.
  • Early life lipid-epigenetic interactions are key factors in metabolic programming.
Abstract

Keywords:
DNA methylationEarly postnatal lifeLeptinLipidsMetabolic programmingTNFα

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