Prenatal Exposure to Mercury: Associations with Global DNA Methylation and Hydroxymethylation in Cord Blood and in Childhood

Conclusions:
Prenatal mercury exposure was associated with lower %-5hmC genomic content and a corresponding increase in the ratio of %-5mC to %-5hmC in cord blood. This association was persistent in early but not midchildhood blood. Our results demonstrate the potential malleability of epigenetic modifications associated with mercury exposure in utero. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP1467

Received: 06 December 2016
Revised: 04 May 2017
Accepted: 19 May 2017
Published: 29 August 2017
Address correspondence to A. Cardenas, Dept. of Population Medicine, Harvard Medical School and Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute, 401 Park Drive, Suite 401 East, Boston, MA 02215 USA. Phone: [phone]. Email: [e-mail]
Supplemental Material is available online (https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP1467).
The authors declare they have no actual or potential competing financial interests.
The views expressed in this article do not necessarily represent the views of the U.S. government, the Department of Health and Human Services, or the National Institutes of Health.
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Source: EHP Research - August 29, 2017 Category: Environmental Health Authors: Daniil Lyalko Tags: Research Source Type: research