Developmental origins of psycho-cardiometabolic multimorbidity in adolescence and their underlying pathways through methylation markers: a two-cohort study

AbstractUnderstanding the biological mechanisms behind multimorbidity patterns in adolescence is important as they may act as intermediary risk factor for long-term health. We aimed to explore relationship between prenatal exposures and adolescent ’s psycho-cardiometabolic intermediary traits mediated through epigenetic biomarkers, using structural equation modeling (SEM). We used data from mother–child dyads from pregnancy and adolescents at 16–17 years from two prospective cohorts: Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1986 (NFBC1986) and Ra ine Study from Australia. Factor analysis was applied to generate two different latent factor structures: (a) prenatal exposures and (b) adolescence psycho-cardiometabolic intermediary traits. Furthermore, three types of epigenetic biomarkers were included: (1) DNA methylation score for maternal smo king during pregnancy (DNAmMSS), (2) DNAm age estimate PhenoAge and (3) DNAm estimate for telomere length (DNAmTL). Similar factor structure was observed between both cohorts yielding three prenatal factors, namely BMI (Body Mass Index), SOP (Socio-Obstetric-Profile), and Lifestyle, and four adolesc ent factors: Anthropometric, Insulin-Triglycerides, Blood Pressure, and Mental health. In the SEM pathways, stronger direct effects of F1prenatal-BMI (NFBC1986  = β: 0.27; Raine  = β: 0.39) and F2prenatal-SOP (β: −0.11) factors were observed on adolescent psycho-cardiometabolic multimorbidity. We observed an indirect effect of prenatal la...
Source: European Child and Adolescent Psychiatry - Category: Psychiatry Source Type: research