Environmental Factors Influence the Epigenetic Signature of Newborns from Mothers with Gestational Diabetes

Here we investigated the degree by which epigenetic signatures in children from mothers with obesity or gestational diabetes mellitus are influenced by environmental factors. We profiled the DNA methylation signature of whole blood from lean, obese and gestational diabetes mellitus mothers and their respective newborns. DNA methylation profiles of mothers showed high similarity across groups, while on the contrary, newborns from GDM mothers showed a marked distinct epigenetic profile compared to newborns of both lean and obese mothers. Analysis of variance in DNA methylation levels between newborns showed higher variance in the GDM group. Our work suggest that environmental factors, rather than direct transmission of epigenetic marks from the mother, are involved in establishing the epigenetic signature associated with GDM. We performed Reduced Representation Bisulfite Sequencing on 8 lean, 8 obese and 8 gestational diabetic mother-newborn pairs.