Construction of a database of pregnant Japanese women, containing nutritional status, medical, and epigenome information, for nutrition education from early pregnancy period

2017 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 15H02901
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Eating habits
• Research Institution: University of Hyogo
• Principal Investigator: Nagai Narumi 兵庫県立大学, 環境人間学部, 教授 (60364098)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 坂根 直樹 独立行政法人国立病院機構(京都医療センター臨床研究センター), 臨床研究企画運営部, 研究室長 (40335443)
• Project Period (FY): 2015-04-01 – 2018-03-31
• Keywords: 栄養学 / 妊娠期栄養 / 遺伝子 / エピゲノム / 食育 / 女性のやせ / DOHaD

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The epigenetic profile of the developing fetus is sensitive to environmental influence. Maternal body mass index (BMI) and nutrition has been shown to influence DNA methylation patterns in offspring, but research in humans is limited. Therefore, we developed a pregnancy and delivery database (n=742) and methylation levels in the cord blood of newborns were determined using the Illumina HumanMethlylation450K Beadchip. The main findings are: 1) pre-pregnancy maternal BMI and the risk of low birth weight (LBW), 2) low socioeconomic status and the risk of LBW, 3) associations between maternal BMI groups and variations in newborn blood DNA methylation. Based on findings from this database, we will provide useful information for nutrition education pre- and during pregnancy.

Free Research Field

総合領域（生活科学・食生活学）