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Insulin levels at 18–20 gestational weeks in pregnant women with obesity are associated with newborn abdominal fat deposition and DNA methylation in cord blood

Maguolo, Alice LU orcid ; Jönsson, Josefine LU orcid ; Perfilyev, Alexander LU orcid ; Vaag, Allan LU ; Malchau Carlsen, Emma ; Nørgaard, Kirsten ; Franks, Paul W. LU ; Renault, Kristina M. and Ling, Charlotte LU orcid (2025) In Clinical Epigenetics 17(1).
Abstract

We assessed if fasting plasma insulin levels in pregnant women with obesity are associated with newborns’ abdominal fat deposition (dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry) and with cord blood DNA methylation (450k array) in 232 mother–child pairs from the Treatment of Obese Pregnant women (TOP) study. Fasting maternal insulin at 18-20gw was associated with abdominal/total fat mass ratio in newborns independent of multiple potential confounders (β = 0.23[95%CI: 0.01; 0.45], P = 0.041) and with cord blood DNA methylation at CpG sites annotated to C11orf54 and RARB (FDR < 10%), both genes potentially involved in metabolic programming. In conclusion, maternal insulin levels in pregnancy were associated with adiposity traits and epigenetics in... (More)

We assessed if fasting plasma insulin levels in pregnant women with obesity are associated with newborns’ abdominal fat deposition (dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry) and with cord blood DNA methylation (450k array) in 232 mother–child pairs from the Treatment of Obese Pregnant women (TOP) study. Fasting maternal insulin at 18-20gw was associated with abdominal/total fat mass ratio in newborns independent of multiple potential confounders (β = 0.23[95%CI: 0.01; 0.45], P = 0.041) and with cord blood DNA methylation at CpG sites annotated to C11orf54 and RARB (FDR < 10%), both genes potentially involved in metabolic programming. In conclusion, maternal insulin levels in pregnancy were associated with adiposity traits and epigenetics in the offspring.

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author
; ; ; ; ; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Abdominal adiposity, Body composition, Diabetes, DNA methylation, Early life, Epigenetics, Fetal programming, Maternal insulin
in
Clinical Epigenetics
volume
17
issue
1
article number
123
publisher
BioMed Central (BMC)
external identifiers
  • pmid:40646607
  • scopus:105010507864
ISSN
1868-7075
DOI
10.1186/s13148-025-01923-y
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
e64c0dd7-a830-4742-bf03-e42e3718c7df
date added to LUP
2025-10-28 13:22:33
date last changed
2025-12-02 09:20:55
@article{e64c0dd7-a830-4742-bf03-e42e3718c7df,
  abstract     = {{<p>We assessed if fasting plasma insulin levels in pregnant women with obesity are associated with newborns’ abdominal fat deposition (dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry) and with cord blood DNA methylation (450k array) in 232 mother–child pairs from the Treatment of Obese Pregnant women (TOP) study. Fasting maternal insulin at 18-20gw was associated with abdominal/total fat mass ratio in newborns independent of multiple potential confounders (β = 0.23[95%CI: 0.01; 0.45], P = 0.041) and with cord blood DNA methylation at CpG sites annotated to C11orf54 and RARB (FDR &lt; 10%), both genes potentially involved in metabolic programming. In conclusion, maternal insulin levels in pregnancy were associated with adiposity traits and epigenetics in the offspring.</p>}},
  author       = {{Maguolo, Alice and Jönsson, Josefine and Perfilyev, Alexander and Vaag, Allan and Malchau Carlsen, Emma and Nørgaard, Kirsten and Franks, Paul W. and Renault, Kristina M. and Ling, Charlotte}},
  issn         = {{1868-7075}},
  keywords     = {{Abdominal adiposity; Body composition; Diabetes; DNA methylation; Early life; Epigenetics; Fetal programming; Maternal insulin}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{1}},
  publisher    = {{BioMed Central (BMC)}},
  series       = {{Clinical Epigenetics}},
  title        = {{Insulin levels at 18–20 gestational weeks in pregnant women with obesity are associated with newborn abdominal fat deposition and DNA methylation in cord blood}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s13148-025-01923-y}},
  doi          = {{10.1186/s13148-025-01923-y}},
  volume       = {{17}},
  year         = {{2025}},
}