Epigenetics and the exposome: DNA methylation as a proxy for health impacts of prenatal environmental exposures

Author:

Colwell Mathia L1,Townsel Courtney2,Petroff Rebekah L1ORCID,Goodrich Jaclyn M1,Dolinoy Dana C13

Affiliation:

1. Department of Environmental Health Sciences, University of Michigan School of Public Health , Ann Arbor, MI, USA

2. Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Michigan School of Medicine , Ann Arbor, MI, USA

3. Department of Nutritional Sciences, University of Michigan School of Public Health , Ann Arbor, MI, USA

Abstract

Abstract The accumulation of everyday exposures can impact health across the life course, but our understanding of such exposures is impeded by our ability to delineate the relationship between an individual’s early-life exposome and later life health effects. Measuring the exposome is challenging. Exposure assessed at a given time point captures a snapshot of the exposome but does not represent the full spectrum of exposures across the life course. In addition, the assessment of early-life exposures and their effects is often further challenged by lack of relevant samples and the time gap between exposures and related health outcomes later in life. Epigenetics, specifically DNA methylation, has the potential to overcome these barriers as environmental epigenetic perturbances can be retained through time. In this review, we describe how DNA methylation can be framed in the world of the exposome. We offer three compelling examples of common environmental exposures, including cigarette smoke, the endocrine active compound bisphenol A, and the metal lead, to illustrate the application of DNA methylation as a proxy to measure the exposome. We discuss areas for future explorations and the current limitations of this approach. Epigenetic profiling is a promising and rapidly developing tool and field of study offering us a unique and powerful way to assess the early-life exposome and its effects across different life stages.

Funder

American Association of Obstetricians and Gynecologists

Publisher

Oxford University Press (OUP)

Subject

General Economics, Econometrics and Finance

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