WEDNESDAY, May 29 (HealthDay News) -- Children born after their mothers had bariatric surgery have gene modifications that are consistent with their reduced cardiometabolic risk, according to a study published online May 28 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Noting that children born after maternal bariatric gastrointestinal bypass surgery are less obese and have improved cardiometabolic risk profiles, Frédéric Guénarda, Ph.D., from Laval University in Quebec City, and colleagues compared the methylation levels of genes involved in cardiometabolic pathways in 25 children born before maternal bariatric gastrointestinal bypass surgery and 25 children born after maternal bariatric gastrointestinal bypass surgery.
The researchers found that 5,698 genes were differentially methylated, with most involved in glucoregulation, inflammation, and vascular disease. There was a significant correlation between methylation levels and gene expression, as well as methylation levels and plasma markers of insulin resistance. These changes were consistent with the metabolic improvements observed.
"This unique clinical study demonstrates that effective treatment of a maternal phenotype is durably detectable in the methylome and transcriptome of subsequent offspring," Guénarda and colleagues conclude.
Abstract
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