Robert Murray and EpiGen colleagues presented a poster at Physiology 2019, held in Aberdeen in July.

Robert says, “We have been investigating maternal influences on DNA methylation in the ANRIL promoter. Methylation of this differentially methylated region has previously been linked to later childhood adiposity levels.

Here we show that pre-pregnancy BMI and pregnancy weight gain is associated with ANRIL DNA methylation levels in the placental cord, and mediation analysis suggests that ANRIL DNA methylation may act as a mediator for a proportion of the influence of maternal pre-pregnancy BMI on offspring adiposity.