(Press-News.org) Maternal diet and weight can impact their child's health even before birth – but so can a father's, shows a study published in BioMed Central's open access journal BMC Medicine. Hypomethylation of the gene coding for the Insulin-like growth factor 2, (IGF2),in newborns correlates to an increased risk of developing cancer later in life, and, for babies born to obese fathers, there is a decrease in the amount of DNA methylation of IGF2 in foetal cells isolated from cord blood.
As part of the Newborn Epigenetics Study (NEST) at Duke University Hospital, information was collected about parental weight and compared to their newborn's epigenetic data. DNA contains the genetic information which is inherited from their parents by children but epigenetic imprinting, such as DNA methylation, controls how active these genes are.
IGF2 codes for a growth factor that is important mainly during foetal development; aberrant control of this gene, including DNA hypomethylation, has been implicated in cancer. The researchers found that IGF2 was hypomethylated in newborns with obese fathers, but not obese mothers.
Dr Adelheid Soubry who led this study explained, "During spermatogenesis some regions in the DNA may be sensitive to environmental damage; these effects can be transmitted to the next generation. It is possible that (mal)nutrition or hormone levels in obese fathers, leads to incomplete DNA methylation or to unstable genomic imprinting of sperm cells. Further research is necessary to confirm our findings."
Dr Cathrine Hoyo from NEST continued, "In general, epigenetic marks are reprogrammed while sperm and eggs are being formed, and consequently nutrition, lifestyle or environment of the parents at this point in time can have a direct effect on a child's development and subsequent health."
###
Media Contact
Dr Hilary Glover
Scientific Press Officer, BioMed Central
Tel: +44 (0) 20 3192 2370
Mob: +44 (0) 778 698 1967
Email: hilary.glover@biomedcentral.com
Notes
1. Paternal obesity is associated with IGF2 hypomethylation in newborns: results from a Newborn Epigenetics Study (NEST) cohort
Adelheid Soubry, Joellen M Schildkraut, Amy Murtha, Frances Wang, Zhiqing Huang, Autumn Bernal, Joanne Kurtzberg, Randy L Jirtle, Susan K Murphy and Cathrine Hoyo
BMC Medicine (in press)
Please name the journal in any story you write. If you are writing for the web, please link to the article. All articles are available free of charge, according to BioMed Central's open access policy.
Article citation and URL available on request on the day of publication.
2. BMC Medicine is the flagship medical journal of the BMC series, publishing original research, commentaries and reviews that are either of significant interest to all areas of medicine and clinical practice, or provide key translational or clinical advances in a specific field. @BMCMedicine
3. BioMed Central is an STM (Science, Technology and Medicine) publisher which has pioneered the open access publishing model. All peer-reviewed research articles published by BioMed Central are made immediately and freely accessible online, and are licensed to allow redistribution and reuse. BioMed Central is part of Springer Science+Business Media, a leading global publisher in the STM sector. @BioMedCentral
4. BioMed Central, in conjunction with its journal Epigenetics & Chromatin, is hosting the inaugural conference "Epigenetics & Chromatin: Interactions and processes" at Harvard Medical School in Boston, USA from 11 March 2013. @Epigenchromatin #eac2013 END
Paternal obesity impacts child's chances of cancer
2013-02-06
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
The number of multiple births affected by congenital anomalies has doubled since the 1980s
2013-02-06
The number of congenital anomalies, or birth defects arising from multiple births has almost doubled since the 1980s, suggests a new study published today (6 February) in BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology.
The study investigates how the change in the proportion of multiple births has affected the prevalence of congenital anomalies from multiple births, and the relative risk of congenital anomaly in multiple versus singleton births.
This study, led by the University of Ulster over a 24-year period (1984 – 2007) across 14 European countries ...
Study raises questions about dietary fats and heart disease guidance
2013-02-06
Dietary advice about fats and the risk of heart disease is called into question on bmj.com today as a clinical trial shows that replacing saturated animal fats with omega-6 polyunsaturated vegetable fats is linked to an increased risk of death among patients with heart disease.
The researchers say their findings could have important implications for worldwide dietary recommendations.
Advice to substitute vegetable oils rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) for animal fats rich in saturated fats to help reduce the risk of heart disease has been a cornerstone of ...
Green tea and red wine extracts interrupt Alzheimer's disease pathway in cells
2013-02-06
Natural chemicals found in green tea and red wine may disrupt a key step of the Alzheimer's disease pathway, according to new research from the University of Leeds.
In early-stage laboratory experiments, the researchers identified the process which allows harmful clumps of protein to latch on to brain cells, causing them to die. They were able to interrupt this pathway using the purified extracts of EGCG from green tea and resveratrol from red wine.
The findings, published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry, offer potential new targets for developing drugs to treat ...
Obesity in dads may be associated with offspring's increased risk of disease
2013-02-06
DURHAM, N.C. -- A father's obesity is one factor that may influence his children's health and potentially raise their risk for diseases like cancer, according to new research from Duke Medicine.
The study, which appears Feb. 6 in the journal BMC Medicine, is the first in humans to show that paternal obesity may alter a genetic mechanism in the next generation, suggesting that a father's lifestyle factors may be transmitted to his children.
"Understanding the risks of the current Western lifestyle on future generations is important," said molecular biologist Adelheid ...
Purification on the cheap
2013-02-06
CAMBRIDGE, MA -- Increased natural gas production is seen as a crucial step away from the greenhouse gas emissions of coal plants and toward U.S. energy independence. But natural gas wells have problems: Large volumes of deep water, often heavily laden with salts and minerals, flow out along with the gas. That so-called "produced water" must be disposed of, or cleaned.
Now, a process developed by engineers at MIT could solve the problem and produce clean water at relatively low cost. After further development, the process could also lead to inexpensive, efficient desalination ...
Are deaf and hard-of-hearing physicians getting the support they need?
2013-02-06
(SACRAMENTO, Calif.) — Deaf and hard of hearing (DHoH) people must overcome significant professional barriers, particularly in health care professions. A number of accommodations are available for hearing-impaired physicians, such as electronic stethoscopes and closed-captioning technologies, but are these approaches making a difference?
A team of researchers from the University of California, Davis, the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio and the University of Michigan surveyed DHoH physicians and medical students to determine whether these and ...
New waterjets could propel LCS to greater speeds
2013-02-06
ARLINGTON, Va. —The Navy's fifth Littoral Combat Ship (LCS), Milwaukee, will be the first to benefit from new high-power density waterjets aimed at staving off rudder and propeller damage experienced on high-speed ships.
The product of an Office of Naval Research (ONR) Future Naval Capabilities (FNC) program, the waterjets arrived last month at the Marinette Marine shipyard in Wisconsin, where Milwaukee (LCS 5) is under construction.
"We believe these waterjets are the future," said Dr. Ki-Han Kim, program manager in ONR's Ship Systems and Engineering Research Division. ...
Study finds potential to match tumors with known cancer drugs
2013-02-06
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — When it comes to gene sequencing and personalized medicine for cancer, spotting an aberrant kinase is a home run. The proteins are relatively easy to target with drugs and plenty of kinase inhibitors already exist.
Now in a new study, University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center researchers assess the complete landscape of a cancer's "kinome" expression and determine which kinases are acting up in a particular tumor. They go on to show that those particular kinases can be targeted with drugs – potentially combining multiple drugs to target multiple ...
New modeling approach transforms imaging technologies
2013-02-06
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Researchers are improving the performance of technologies ranging from medical CT scanners to digital cameras using a system of models to extract specific information from huge collections of data and then reconstructing images like a jigsaw puzzle.
The new approach is called model-based iterative reconstruction, or MBIR.
"It's more-or-less how humans solve problems by trial and error, assessing probability and discarding extraneous information," said Charles Bouman, Purdue University's Michael and Katherine Birck Professor of Electrical and Computer ...
Obesity treatment breakthrough described in EurekAlert!'s No. 1 most-visited news release in 2012
2013-02-06
EurekAlert!'s most-viewed news release from 2012 focused on a breakthrough in the treatment of obesity and related diseases using a combination of hormones, tested in mice, that resulted in weight loss and lowered blood sugar without negative side effects.
The theme of obesity was prominent in three other most-viewed news releases on EurekAlert! during 2012.. Other topics were mental health, neuroscience, marine conservation, human behavioral science, and progress toward a male contraceptive pill.
EurekAlert! is the global science news service operated by the American ...