Early Maternal Alcohol Consumption Alters Hippocampal DNA Methylation, Gene Expression and Volume in a Mouse Model

AbstractSome evidence suggests that light-to-moderate alcohol consumption during pregnancy is associated with adverse outcomes in the offspring, but the precise biological mechanisms underlying such associations are currently unknown. Epigenetic modifications have been suggested as one potential explanation.Within the Pregnancy and Childhood Epigenetics (PACE) consortium, we performed meta-analysis to combine information from six population-based birth cohort studies to investigate DNA methylation at over 450,000 sites in the cord blood of newborns differentially exposed to alcohol in utero. We were primarily interested in the effects of sustained consumption throughout pregnancy (data available for five cohorts, 3,075 mother-child pairs), which represents a prolonged prenatal exposure to alcohol, but we also explored binge-drinking and timing-specific exposures. In addition to looking for differential methylation at individual CpG sites, we also used two different methods, Comb-P and DMRcate, to identify differentially methylated regions (DMRs).We found no strong evidence of association between any of our alcohol exposure measures and DNA methylation at any individual CpG site. Using Comb-P, we identified 19 DMRs in the offspring of mothers who drank throughout pregnancy compared to the offspring of mothers who gave up drinking at the start of pregnancy, but these were not validated using DMRcate.In this multi-cohort study of the general population we found no evidence that maternal alcohol consumption during pregnancy is associated with offspring cord blood DNA methylation, which is in stark contrast to the multiple, strong associations that previous studies have found for maternal smoking. However, it is possible that a combination of a larger sample size, higher doses, different timings of exposure and a more global assessment of genomic DNA methylation might show evidence of association.

Download Full-text

Maternal alcohol consumption and offspring DNA methylation: findings from six general population-based birth cohorts

Epigenomics ◽

10.2217/epi-2017-0095 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 10 (1) ◽

pp. 27-42 ◽

Cited By ~ 28

Author(s):

Gemma C Sharp ◽

Ryan Arathimos ◽

Sarah E Reese ◽

Christian M Page ◽

Janine Felix ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Dna Methylation ◽

Alcohol Consumption ◽

General Population ◽

Population Based ◽

Birth Cohorts ◽

Maternal Alcohol ◽

Maternal Alcohol Consumption

Download Full-text

Identifying psychosocial determinants related to alcohol consumption during pregnancy: a systematic literature review

10.31234/osf.io/awkdz ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Sylvia Roozen ◽

Gjalt - Jorn Ygram Peters ◽

Gerjo Kok ◽

Leopold Curfs

Keyword(s):

Alcohol Consumption ◽

Pregnant Women ◽

Perceived Risk ◽

Human Subjects ◽

Meta Analysis ◽

Univariate Analysis ◽

Childbearing Age ◽

Psychosocial Determinants ◽

Maternal Alcohol ◽

Maternal Alcohol Consumption

BackgroundFetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) is an important global health problem in need of prevention. For FASD prevention it is important to understand why pregnant women engage or do not engage in drinking alcohol. It remains unknown which psychosocial determinants related to maternal alcohol consumption are most in need of prevention. The objective of this study was to identify these.MethodWe searched in PubMed, PsychINFO, PsychARTICLES, ERIC, CINAHL, EMBASE and MEDLINE databases up to May 2018 using an extensive query consisting of keywords related to pregnancy (e.g., maternal, prenatal), alcohol use (e.g., alcohol, drink) and determinants (e.g., attitude, norm). Studies were excluded when not published in English, were reviews, or involved non-human subjects. Substantial heterogeneity precluded aggregation or meta-analysis of the data. Instead, data were qualitatively inspected.ResultsA total of 23 studies including 150 identified items were eligible for data analysis. Studies covered over 15 psychosocial determinants (e.g., attitude, perceived social norm, risk perception). Studies differed in their operationalizations. As a majority of data was based on univariate analysis, little is known about the relationship with specific drinking behaviors. The majority of studies targeted perceived risk and motivation to comply with each social referents' approval or disapproval. A large proportion of studies focused on disadvantages and risks of maternal alcohol consumption. Results from these studies show that women do not continue to drink because the risks are unknown to them. Cautious interpretation is needed while the observed heterogeneity hindered firm conclusions. Conclusion We aimed to identify all relevant psychosocial determinants of maternal alcohol consumption behavior(s). The state of the literature precludes such conclusions. It remains unknown which determinants are most in need of intervention. It is recommended for future studies to (i) identify all possible psychosocial determinants of drinking during pregnancy using both quantitative and qualitative methods; (ii) include different target groups (e.g., women with unplanned pregnancies, pregnant women, women in childbearing age); (iii) identify key environmental agents; (iv) operationalize their measures based on theoretical models; (v) report specific variables such as the study method and association with behavior.

Download Full-text