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Colonic Mucosal Epigenome and Microbiome Development in Children and Adolescents

R Alan Harris1, Rajesh Shah2, Emily B Hollister3

  • 1Department of Molecular and Human Genetics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA.

Journal of Immunology Research
|March 24, 2016
PubMed

Insights

Pediatric DNA methylation and microbiome shifts during development may influence inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) and colorectal cancer (CRC). These age-specific changes offer insights into early disease origins.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric Gastroenterology
  • Epigenetics
  • Microbiome Research

Background:

  • Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD), including Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC), and early-onset colorectal cancer (CRC) have links to developmental factors.
  • Epigenetic modifications and microbiome alterations in children are increasingly recognized as critical in disease development.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate age-specific DNA methylation and microbiome changes in the colonic mucosa of healthy children.
  • To explore the potential role of these changes in the developmental origins of IBD and CRC.

Main Methods:

  • Analysis of colonic mucosal samples from 22 children aged 3.5–17.5 years.
  • Utilized Infinium HumanMethylation450 BeadChips for DNA methylation profiling.
  • Employed 454 pyrosequencing of the bacterial 16S rRNA gene in 10 samples to assess microbiome composition.

Main Results:

  • Identified intercalating age-specific DNA methylation patterns.
  • Detected age-specific alterations in the gut microbiome composition.
  • Found correlations between methylation and microbiome changes over developmental stages.

Conclusions:

  • Age-specific epigenetic and microbiome changes occur during pediatric development.
  • These findings suggest a potential role for these early-life changes in the developmental origins of IBD and CRC.
  • Highlights the translational relevance for understanding and potentially preventing these diseases.

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