NR3C1 gene methylation and cortisol levels in preterm and healthy full-term infants in the first 3 months of life.
Georgia ChalfunAline de Araújo BrasilVitor Barreto ParavidinoSheila Coelho Soares LimaMonique de Souza Almeida LopesMargarida Dos Santos SalúPaulo Victor Barbosa E Dos SantosAna Carolina P da Cunha TrompiereLeo Travassos Vieira MiloneGustavo Rodrigues-SantosMariana Barros Genuíno de OliveiraJaqueline Rodrigues RobainaFernanda Lima-SettaMarcelo Martins ReisAntonio Jose Ledo Alves da CunhaArnaldo Prata BarbosaMaria Clara de Magalhães BarbosaPublished in: Epigenomics (2023)
Aim: To describe NR3C1 exon-1 F methylation and cortisol levels in newborns. Materials & methods: Preterm ≤1500 g and full-term infants were included. Samples were collected at birth and at days 5, 30 and 90 (or at discharge). Results: 46 preterm and 49 full-term infants were included. Methylation was stable over time in full-term infants (p = 0.3116) but decreased in preterm infants (p = 0.0241). Preterm infants had higher cortisol levels on the fifth day, while full-term infants showed increasing levels (p = 0.0177) over time. Conclusion: Hypermethylated sites in NR3C1 at birth and higher cortisol levels on day 5 suggest that prematurity, reflecting prenatal stress, affects the epigenome. Methylation decrease over time in preterm infants suggests that postnatal factors may modify the epigenome, but their role needs to be clarified.