Smoking during pregnancy increases chemerin expression in neonatal tissue

Leryn J. Reynolds, Niraj R. Chavan, Logan B. DeHoff, Joshua D. Preston, Hannah F. Maddox, John M. O'Brien, David A. Armstrong, Carmen J. Marsit, Kevin J. Pearson

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

4 Scopus citations

Abstract

New Findings: What is the central question of this study? Is chemerin, an adipokine implicated in obesity, increased in neonates following in utero cigarette smoke exposure. What is the main finding and its importance? Chemerin mRNA expression was increased and chemerin DNA methylation was decreased in babies born to mothers who smoked during pregnancy. These data provide a potential mechanism that may be mediating the increased obesity risk in individuals that are born to mothers who smoked during pregnancy. Abstract: It has been shown that in utero tobacco exposure increases offspring risk for obesity, but the mechanisms responsible for this increased risk are not well understood. Chemerin is an adipokine that regulates adipocyte differentiation. This chemokine is elevated in obese individuals and with smoke exposure, but its levels have not been measured in neonates exposed to cigarette smoke in utero. We examined chemerin gene expression [n = 31 non-smoker (NS) and 15 smoker (S)] and DNA methylation (n = 28 NS and n = 11 S) in skin collected from babies born to mothers who smoked during pregnancy as compared to non-smoking controls. Quality RNA and DNA were isolated from foreskin tissue following circumcision, and chemerin gene expression and DNA methylation were assessed. Further, in a second cohort, we utilized primary dermal foreskin fibroblasts as a functional measure of adipogenesis in living cells (n = 11 NS and n = 8 S). Cells were stimulated with an adipogenic cocktail, mRNA was isolated from cells after 14 days, and chemerin gene expression assessed via real-time PCR. Chemerin mRNA was elevated in both whole tissue (NS: 2409.20 ± 555.28 counts and S: 2966.72 ± 636.84 counts; P < 0.01) and primary fibroblasts (NS: 1.12 ± 0.55 2ΔΔCT and S: 2.13 ± 1.34 2ΔΔCT; P = 0.04) collected from infants born to smoking mothers. Chemerin DNA methylation was reduced in whole tissue of offspring born to smokers (NS: 4.18 ± 1.28 and S: 3.07 ± 1.31%; P = 0.02), which may contribute to the increased gene expression. Neonates born to mothers who smoke during pregnancy exhibit distinct changes in chemerin gene expression in response to in utero tobacco smoke exposure which are regulated in part by epigenetic alterations.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)93-99
Number of pages7
JournalExperimental Physiology
Volume104
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Jan 1 2019

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2018 The Authors. Experimental Physiology © 2018 The Physiological Society

Keywords

  • cigarette
  • developmental programming
  • foreskin

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Physiology
  • Nutrition and Dietetics
  • Physiology (medical)

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