Cited by 237Birth, Development, and HealthEpigenetics and DNA MethylationNutrition, Genetics, and Disease

Impact of Maternal Diet on the Epigenome during In Utero Life and the Developmental Programming of Diseases in Childhood and Adulthood

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Lee, Ho-Sun·2015·Nutrients

Abstract

Exposure to environmental factors in early life can influence developmental processes and long-term health in humans. Early life nutrition and maternal diet are well-known examples of conditions shown to influence the risk of developing metabolic diseases, including type 2 diabetes mellitus and cardiovascular diseases, in adulthood. It is increasingly accepted that environmental compounds, including nutrients, can produce changes in the genome activity that, in spite of not altering the DNA sequence, can produce important, stable and, in some instances, transgenerational alterations in the phenotype. Epigenetics refers to changes in gene function that cannot be explained by changes in the DNA sequence, with DNA methylation patterns/histone modifications that can make important contributions to epigenetic memory. The epigenome can be considered as an interface between the genome and the environment that is central to the generation of phenotypes and their stability throughout the life course. To better understand the role of maternal health and nutrition in the initiation and progression of diseases in childhood and adulthood, it is necessary to identify the physiological and/or pathological roles of specific nutrients on the epigenome and how dietary interventions in utero and early life could modulate disease risk through epigenomic alteration.

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  • microRNAs (miRNAs) are small non-coding RNAs that post-transcriptionally regulate gene expression.

    “regulation by microRNAs (miRNAs), small non-coding RNAs that post-transcriptionally regulate gene expression.”

    From Maternal Overnutrition and Fetal Programming: Long-Term Metabolic, Cognitive, and Epigenetic Consequences (2026) · cites this paper as [158]

    Section 2.3, “MicroRNA” (page not provided), identifies miRNAs as short noncoding RNAs. Section 2, “Epigenetic Mechanisms” (page not provided), treats microRNA as a mechanism involved in genome activity, but the copy does not specify that miRNAs regulate gene expression post-transcriptionally. (LLM, conf=0.85)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
  • Together, DNA methylation, histone modifications, and miRNA regulation form the molecular basis of fetal programming, through which maternal nutritional imbalance can imprint lasting effects on gene regulation, metabolism, and disease vulnerability in later life.

    “Together, these mechanisms form the molecular basis of fetal programming, through which maternal nutritional imbalance can imprint lasting effects on gene regulation, metabolism, and disease vulnerability in later life [157,158,159].”
  • DNA methylation, mediated by DNA methyltransferases (DNMTs), typically represses gene transcription when occurring in promoter regions.

    “DNA methylation, mediated by DNA methyltransferases (DNMTs), which typically repress gene transcription when occurring in promoter regions;”
  • Once established early in life, these epigenetic alterations are relatively stable and may exert lifelong effects on phenotype and disease risk.

    “Once established early in life, these epigenetic alterations are relatively stable and may exert lifelong effects on phenotype and disease risk.”
  • Histone modifications such as acetylation, methylation, and phosphorylation influence chromatin structure and the accessibility of transcriptional machinery.

    “histone modifications (e.g., acetylation, methylation, phosphorylation) that influence chromatin structure and the accessibility of transcriptional machinery;”

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Authors
Lee, H.-S.
Affiliations
Centre international de recherche sur le cancer (FR)
Corresponding author
Lee, Ho-Sun
Venue
Nutrients
Publisher
MDPI AG
Published
2015-11-17
Volume
7
Issue
11
Pages
9492-9507
ISSN
2072-6643 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W2177368991
Cited by
236
References
107
Citations by year
2026: 14 · 2025: 19 · 2024: 12 · 2023: 20 · 2022: 25 · 2021: 19 · 2020: 23 · 2019: 32 · 2018: 33 · 2017: 23 · 2016: 16
FWCI
3.64
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Nutrients (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
Funders
World Health Organization
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health › Birth, Development, and Health
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Epigenetics and DNA Methylation
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Nutrition, Genetics, and Disease
Keywords
maternal diet, epigenetics, DNA methylation, histone modifications, developmental programming, early life nutrition, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, metabolic disorders, transgenerational epigenetic inheritance, prenatal exposure, dietary intervention
MeSH terms
Animals, Cardiovascular Diseases, Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2, Diet, Disease Models, Animal, Female, Humans, Nutritional Status, Phenotype, Pregnancy, Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects, DNA Methylation, Maternal Nutritional Physiological Phenomena, Epigenesis, Genetic, Epigenomics, Gene-Environment Interaction

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