An epigenetic clock for gestational age at birth based on blood methylation data

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Author
Knight, Anna K.
Craig, Jeffrey M.
Theda, Christiane
Bækvad-Hansen, Marie
Bybjerg-Grauholm, Jonas
Hansen, Christine S.
Hollegaard, Mads V.
Hougaard, David M.
Mortensen, Preben B.
Weinsheimer, Shantel M.
Werge, Thomas M.
Brennan, Patricia A.
Cubells, Joseph F.
Newport, D. Jeffrey
Stowe, Zachary N.
Cheong, Jeanie L. Y.
Dalach, Philippa
Doyle, Lex W.
Loke, Yuk J.
Baccarelli, Andrea A.
Just, Allan C.
Wright, Robert O.
Téllez-Rojo, Mara M.
Svensson, Katherine
Kennedy, Elizabeth M.
Binder, Elisabeth B.
Iurato, Stella
Czamara, Darina
Räikkönen, Katri
Lahti, Jari M. T.
Pesonen, Anu-Katriina
Kajantie, Eero
Villa, Pia M.
Laivuori, Hannele
Hämäläinen, Esa
Park, Hea Jin
Bailey, Lynn B.
Parets, Sasha E.
Kilaru, Varun
Menon, Ramkumar
Horvath, Steve
Bush, Nicole R.
LeWinn, Kaja Z.
Tylavsky, Frances A.
Conneely, Karen N.
Smith, Alicia K.
Note: Order does not necessarily reflect citation order of authors.
Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1186/s13059-016-1068-zMetadata
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Knight, A. K., J. M. Craig, C. Theda, M. Bækvad-Hansen, J. Bybjerg-Grauholm, C. S. Hansen, M. V. Hollegaard, et al. 2016. “An epigenetic clock for gestational age at birth based on blood methylation data.” Genome Biology 17 (1): 206. doi:10.1186/s13059-016-1068-z. http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s13059-016-1068-z.Abstract
Background: Gestational age is often used as a proxy for developmental maturity by clinicians and researchers alike. DNA methylation has previously been shown to be associated with age and has been used to accurately estimate chronological age in children and adults. In the current study, we examine whether DNA methylation in cord blood can be used to estimate gestational age at birth. Results: We find that gestational age can be accurately estimated from DNA methylation of neonatal cord blood and blood spot samples. We calculate a DNA methylation gestational age using 148 CpG sites selected through elastic net regression in six training datasets. We evaluate predictive accuracy in nine testing datasets and find that the accuracy of the DNA methylation gestational age is consistent with that of gestational age estimates based on established methods, such as ultrasound. We also find that an increased DNA methylation gestational age relative to clinical gestational age is associated with birthweight independent of gestational age, sex, and ancestry. Conclusions: DNA methylation can be used to accurately estimate gestational age at or near birth and may provide additional information relevant to developmental stage. Further studies of this predictor are warranted to determine its utility in clinical settings and for research purposes. When clinical estimates are available this measure may increase accuracy in the testing of hypotheses related to developmental age and other early life circumstances. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13059-016-1068-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.Other Sources
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5054584/pdf/Terms of Use
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http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:29408235
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