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Antiepileptic drugs and the fetal epigenome

Emes, Richard D.; Clifford, Harry; Haworth, Kim E.; Farrell, William E.; Fryer, Anthony A.; Carroll, William D.; Ismail, Khaled M. K.; KM, Ismail

Authors

Richard D. Emes

Harry Clifford

Kim E. Haworth

William E. Farrell

William D. Carroll

Khaled M. K. Ismail

Ismail KM



Abstract

Antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) can lower maternal folate and increase maternal homocysteine levels, which are known to affect the methyl cycle and hence DNA methylation levels. The influence of in utero exposure to AEDs on fetal DNA methylation was investigated. Genome-wide fetal epigenomic profiles were determined using the Infinium 27K BeadArray from Illumina (San Diego, CA, U.S.A.). The Infinium array measures approximately 27,000 CpG loci associated with 14,496 genes at single-nucleotide resolution. Eighteen cord blood samples (nine samples from babies exposed to AEDs and nine controls) from otherwise uncomplicated pregnancies were compared. Unsupervised hierarchic clustering was used to compare the calculated methylation profiles. A clear distinction between the methylation profiles of samples from babies exposed to AEDs in utero compared with controls was detected. These data provide evidence of an epigenetic effect associated with antenatal AED and high-dose folate supplementation during pregnancy. The differences in fetal DNA methylation of those exposed to AEDs shows that a genome-wide effect of methylation is evident. In addition, the epigenetic changes observed appear to be, in this limited sample, independent of extremes of birth weight centiles. These preliminary data highlight possible mechanisms by which AEDs might influence fetal outcomes and the potential of optimizing AED-specific folate supplementation regimens to offset these effects.

Citation

Emes, R. D., Clifford, H., Haworth, K. E., Farrell, W. E., Fryer, A. A., Carroll, W. D., …KM, I. (2013). Antiepileptic drugs and the fetal epigenome. Epilepsia, 54(1), e16-e19. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1528-1167.2012.03673.x

Journal Article Type Article
Online Publication Date Sep 27, 2012
Publication Date 2013-01
Deposit Date Aug 10, 2023
Publicly Available Date Aug 10, 2023
Journal EPILEPSIA
Print ISSN 0013-9580
Publisher Wiley
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 54
Issue 1
Pages e16-e19
DOI https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1528-1167.2012.03673.x
PMID 23016625

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