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. 2023 Sep 27;7(10):e0243.
doi: 10.1097/HC9.0000000000000243. eCollection 2023 Oct 1.

AHRR Hypomethylation mediates the association between maternal smoking and metabolic profiles in children

Adriana C Vidal  1 , Shivram A Chandramouli  2 , Joddy Marchesoni  1 , Nia Brown  1 , Yukun Liu  1 , Susan K Murphy  3 , Rachel Maguire  1 , Yaxu Wang  1 , Manal F Abdelmalek  4 , Alisha M Mavis  5 , Mustafa R Bashir  6 , Dereje Jima  1   7 , David A Skaar  1 , Cathrine Hoyo  1 , Cynthia A Moylan  2
Affiliations

AHRR Hypomethylation mediates the association between maternal smoking and metabolic profiles in children

Adriana C Vidal et al. Hepatol Commun. .

Abstract

Background: Tobacco smoking during pregnancy is associated with metabolic dysfunction in children, but mechanistic insights remain limited. Hypomethylation of cg05575921 in the aryl hydrocarbon receptor repressor (AHRR) gene is associated with in utero tobacco smoke exposure. In this study, we evaluated whether AHRR hypomethylation mediates the association between maternal smoking and metabolic dysfunction in children.

Methods: We assessed metabolic dysfunction using liver fat content (LFC), serum, and clinical data in children aged 7-12 years (n=78) followed since birth. Maternal smoking was self-reported at 12 weeks gestation. Methylation was measured by means of pyrosequencing at 3 sequential CpG sites, including cg05575921, at birth and at ages 7-12. Regression models were used to evaluate whether AHRR methylation mediated the association between maternal smoking and child metabolic dysfunction.

Results: Average AHRR methylation at birth was significantly higher among children of nonsmoking mothers compared with children of mothers who smoked (69.8% ± 4.4% vs. 63.5% ± 5.5, p=0.0006). AHRR hypomethylation at birth was associated with higher liver fat content (p=0.01), triglycerides (p=0.01), and alanine aminotransferase levels (p=0.03), and lower HDL cholesterol (p=0.01) in childhood. AHRR hypomethylation significantly mediated associations between maternal smoking and liver fat content (indirect effect=0.213, p=0.018), triglycerides (indirect effect=0.297, p=0.044), and HDL cholesterol (indirect effect = -0.413, p=0.007). AHRR methylation in childhood (n=78) was no longer significantly associated with prenatal smoke exposure or child metabolic parameters (p>0.05).

Conclusions: AHRR hypomethylation significantly mediates the association between prenatal tobacco smoke exposure and features of childhood metabolic dysfunction, despite the lack of persistent hypomethylation of AHRR into childhood. Further studies are needed to replicate these findings and to explore their causal and long-term significance.

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Conflict of interest statement

Alisha Mavis advises and is on the speakers’ bureau for Albireo and Mirum. She consults for Echosens and is on the speakers’ bureau for Alexion. Mustafa Bashir received grants from Carmot, Corcept, Madrigal, NGM, and Siemens. Cynthia Moylan advises Boehringer Ingelheim and received grants from Exact Sciences and GlaxoSmithKline. The remaining authors have no conflicts to report.

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