Journal
BIOMEDICINES
Volume 10, Issue 5, Pages -Publisher
MDPI
DOI: 10.3390/biomedicines10051150
Keywords
prenatal opioid exposure; placenta; DNA methylome; differential methylation; functional annotation; neonatal opioid withdrawal syndrome
Categories
Funding
- National Institutes of Health [NICHD R01 HD096798]
- NIAAA [R01 AA025080]
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The study reveals that prenatal exposure to opioids can lead to epigenetic modifications in the placenta, resulting in placental dysfunction and abnormal fetal brain development, as well as symptoms of opioid withdrawal in neonates.
Prenatal exposure to addictive drugs can lead to placental epigenetic modifications, but a methylome-wide evaluation of placental DNA methylation changes after prenatal opioid exposure has not yet been performed. Placental tissue samples were collected at delivery from 19 opioid-exposed and 20 unexposed control full-term pregnancies. Placental DNA methylomes were profiled using the Illumina Infinium HumanMethylationEPIC BeadChip. Differentially methylated CpG sites associated with opioid exposure were identified with a linear model using the 'limma' R package. To identify differentially methylated regions (DMRs) spanning multiple CpG sites, the 'DMRcate' R package was used. The functions of genes mapped by differentially methylated CpG sites and DMRs were further annotated using Enrichr. Differentially methylated CpGs (n = 684, unadjusted p < 0.005 and vertical bar Delta beta vertical bar >= 0.05) were mapped to 258 genes (including PLD1, MGAM, and ALCS2). Differentially methylated regions (n = 199) were located in 174 genes (including KCNMAI). Enrichment analysis of the top differentially methylated CpG sites and regions indicated disrupted epigenetic regulation of genes involved in synaptic structure, chemical synaptic transmission, and nervous system development. Our findings imply that placental epigenetic changes due to prenatal opioid exposure could result in placental dysfunction, leading to abnormal fetal brain development and the symptoms of opioid withdrawal in neonates.
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