Maternal Lipodome Across Pregnancy is Associated with the Neonatal DNA Methylome

Abstract

<b>Aim:</b> To classify the association between the maternal lipidome and DNA methylation in cord blood leukocytes. <b>Materials & methods:</b> Untargeted lipidomics was performed on first trimester maternal plasma (M1) and delivery maternal plasma (M3) in 100 mothers from the Michigan Mother-Infant Pairs cohort. Cord blood leukocyte DNA methylation was profiled using the Infinium EPIC bead array and empirical Bayes modeling identified differential DNA methylation related to maternal lipid groups. <b>Results:</b> M3-saturated lysophosphatidylcholine was associated with 45 differentially methylated loci and M3-saturated lysophosphatidylethanolamine was associated with 18 differentially methylated loci. Biological pathways enriched among differentially methylated loci by M3 saturated lysophosphatidylcholines were related to cell proliferation and growth. <b>Conclusion:</b> The maternal lipidome may be influential in establishing the infant epigenome.