TY - JOUR
T1 - Biological embedding of early-life exposures and disease risk in humans
T2 - A role for DNA methylation
AU - Demetriou, Christiana A.
AU - van Veldhoven, Karin
AU - Relton, Caroline
AU - Stringhini, Silvia
AU - Kyriacou, Kyriacos
AU - Vineis, Paolo
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2015 Stichting European Society for Clinical Investigation Journal Foundation.
PY - 2015/3/1
Y1 - 2015/3/1
N2 - Background: Following wider acceptance of 'the thrifty phenotype' hypothesis and the convincing evidence that early-life exposures can influence adult health even decades after the exposure, much interest has been placed on the mechanisms through which early-life exposures become biologically embedded. Materials and methods: In this review, we summarize the current literature regarding biological embedding of early-life experiences. To this end, we conducted a literature search to identify studies investigating early-life exposures in relation to DNA methylation changes. In addition, we summarize the challenges faced in investigations of epigenetic effects, stemming from the peculiarities of this emergent and complex field. A proper systematic review and meta-analyses were not feasible given the nature of the evidence. Results: We identified seven studies on early-life socio-economic circumstances, 10 studies on childhood obesity and six studies on early-life nutrition all relating to DNA methylation changes that met the stipulated inclusion criteria. The pool of evidence gathered, albeit small, favours a role of epigenetics and DNA methylation in biological embedding, but replication of findings, multiple comparison corrections, publication bias and causality are concerns remaining to be addressed in future investigations. Conclusions: Based on these results, we hypothesize that epigenetics, in particular DNA methylation, is a plausible mechanism through which early-life exposures are biologically embedded. This review describes the current status of the field and acts as a stepping stone for future, better designed investigations on how early-life exposures might become biologically embedded through epigenetic effects.
AB - Background: Following wider acceptance of 'the thrifty phenotype' hypothesis and the convincing evidence that early-life exposures can influence adult health even decades after the exposure, much interest has been placed on the mechanisms through which early-life exposures become biologically embedded. Materials and methods: In this review, we summarize the current literature regarding biological embedding of early-life experiences. To this end, we conducted a literature search to identify studies investigating early-life exposures in relation to DNA methylation changes. In addition, we summarize the challenges faced in investigations of epigenetic effects, stemming from the peculiarities of this emergent and complex field. A proper systematic review and meta-analyses were not feasible given the nature of the evidence. Results: We identified seven studies on early-life socio-economic circumstances, 10 studies on childhood obesity and six studies on early-life nutrition all relating to DNA methylation changes that met the stipulated inclusion criteria. The pool of evidence gathered, albeit small, favours a role of epigenetics and DNA methylation in biological embedding, but replication of findings, multiple comparison corrections, publication bias and causality are concerns remaining to be addressed in future investigations. Conclusions: Based on these results, we hypothesize that epigenetics, in particular DNA methylation, is a plausible mechanism through which early-life exposures are biologically embedded. This review describes the current status of the field and acts as a stepping stone for future, better designed investigations on how early-life exposures might become biologically embedded through epigenetic effects.
KW - Biological embedding
KW - Body mass index
KW - DNA methylation, epigenetics
KW - Early-life nutrition
KW - Early-life socio-economic status
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84923276534&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1111/eci.12406
DO - 10.1111/eci.12406
M3 - Review article
C2 - 25645488
AN - SCOPUS:84923276534
SN - 0014-2972
VL - 45
SP - 303
EP - 332
JO - European Journal of Clinical Investigation
JF - European Journal of Clinical Investigation
IS - 3
ER -