Birth Weight ; Fetal Growth Retardation ; genetics ; Humans ; Molecular Biology

Dyskeratosis Congenita/genetics* ; Enterocolitis/genetics* ; Fetal Growth Retardation ; Humans ; Intellectual Disability/genetics* ; Microcephaly/genetics*

OBJECTIVETo review the role of epigenetic regulation in neonatal diseases and better understand Barker's "fetal origins of adult disease hypothesis".

DATA SOURCESThe data cited in this review were mainly obtained from the articles published in Medline/PubMed between January 1953 and December 2009.

STUDY SELECTIONArticles associated with epigenetics and neonatal diseases were selected.

RESULTSThere is a wealth of epidemiological evidence that lower birth weight is strongly correlated with an increased risk of adult diseases, such as type 2 diabetes mellitus, hypertension, and cardiovascular disease. This phenomenon of fetal origins of adult disease is strongly associated with fetal insults to epigenetic modifications of genes. A potential role of epigenetic modifications in congenital disorders, transient neonatal diabetes mellitus (TNDM), intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR), and persistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborn (PPHN) have been studied.

CONCLUSIONSAcknowledgment of the role of these epigenetic modifications in neonatal diseases would be conducive to better understanding the pathogenesis of these diseases, and provide new insight for improved treatment and prevention of later adult diseases.

DNA Methylation ; Diabetes Mellitus ; genetics ; Epigenesis, Genetic ; Fetal Growth Retardation ; genetics ; Genomic Imprinting ; Histones ; metabolism ; Humans ; Infant, Newborn ; Infant, Newborn, Diseases ; genetics ; Persistent Fetal Circulation Syndrome ; genetics

OBJECTIVE: To carry out genetic analysis for a fetus with confined placental mosaicism (CPM) for trisomy 2 (T2) in conjunct with fetal uniparental disomy (UPD). METHODS: Amniocentesis and chromosomal karyotyping was carried out for a pregnant woman with a high risk for chromosome 2 anomalies indicated by non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT). Single nucleotide polymorphism array (SNP-array) and trio-whole exome sequencing (Trio-WES) were carried out. Ultrasonography was used to closely monitor the fetal growth. Multifocal sampling of the placenta was performed after delivery for copy number variation sequencing (CNV-seq). RESULTS: The fetus was found to have a normal chromosomal karyotype. SNP-array has revealed multiple regions with loss of heterozygosity (LOH) on chromosome 2. Trio-WES confirmed the presence of maternal UPD for chromosome 2. Ultrasonography has revealed intrauterine growth restriction and oligohydramnios. Intrauterine fetal demise had occurred at 23⁺⁴ weeks of gestation. Pathological examination had failed to find salient visceral abnormality. The placenta was proved to contain complete T2 by CNV-seq. CONCLUSION T2 CPM can cause false positive result for NIPT and may be complicated with fetal UPD, leading to adverse obstetric outcomes such as intrauterine growth restriction, oligohydramnios and intrauterine fetal demise.
Female ; Humans ; Pregnancy ; Amniocentesis ; Chromosomes, Human, Pair 2/genetics* ; DNA Copy Number Variations ; Fetal Death ; Fetal Growth Retardation/genetics* ; Fetus ; Mosaicism ; Oligohydramnios ; Placenta ; Trisomy/genetics* ; Uniparental Disomy/genetics*

OBJECTIVE: To explore the clinical and genetic characteristics of a fetus with Melnick-Needles syndrome (MNS). METHODS: A fetus with MNS diagnosed at Ningbo Women and Children's Hospital in November 2020 was selected as the study subject. Clinical data was collected. Pathogenic variant was screened by using trio-whole exome sequencing (trio-WES). Candidate variant was verified by Sanger sequencing. RESULTS: Prenatal ultrasonography of the fetus had shown multiple anomalies including intrauterine growth retardation, bilateral femur curvature, omphalocele, single umbilical artery, and oligohydramnios. Trio-WES revealed that the fetus has harbored hemizygous c.3562G>A (p.A1188T) missense variant of the FLNA gene. Sanger sequencing confirmed that the variant was maternally derived, whilst its father was of a wild type. Based on the guidelines from the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics (ACMG), the variant was predicted to be likely pathogenic (PS4+PM2_Supporting+PP3+PP4). CONCLUSION The hemizygous c.3562G>A (p.A1188T) variant of the FLNA gene probably underlay the structural abnormalities in this fetus. Genetic testing can facilitate accurate diagnosis of MNS and provide a basis for genetic counseling for this family.
Child ; Female ; Humans ; Pregnancy ; Abnormalities, Multiple/genetics* ; Fetal Growth Retardation ; Fetus ; Filamins/genetics* ; Genetic Counseling ; Mutation ; Osteochondrodysplasias

Female ; Fetal Growth Retardation ; genetics ; physiopathology ; Humans ; Insulin Resistance ; physiology ; Insulin-Secreting Cells ; physiology ; Metabolic Syndrome ; embryology ; etiology ; Pregnancy

OBJECTIVE: To explore the genetic basis for a Chinese pedigree with 6q26q27 microduplication and 15q26.3 microdeletion. METHODS: A fetus with a 6q26q27 microduplication and a 15q26.3 microdeletion diagnosed at the First Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University in January 2021 and members of its pedigree were selected as the study subject. Clinical data of the fetus was collected. The fetus and its parents were analyzed by G-banding karyotyping and chromosomal microarray analysis (CMA), and its maternal grandparents were also subjected to G-banding karyotype analysis. RESULTS: Prenatal ultrasound had indicated intrauterine growth retardation of the fetus, though no karyotypic abnormality was found with the amniotic fluid sample and blood samples from its pedigree members. CMA revealed that the fetus has carried a 6.6 Mb microduplication in 6q26q27 and a 1.9 Mb microdeletion in 15q26.3, and his mother also carried a 6.49 duplication and a 1.867 deletion in the same region. No anomaly was found with its father. CONCLUSION The 6q26q27 microduplication and 15q26.3 microdeletion probably underlay the intrauterine growth retardation in this fetus.
Female ; Humans ; Pregnancy ; East Asian People ; Fetal Growth Retardation/genetics* ; Karyotype ; Pedigree ; Prenatal Diagnosis ; Sequence Deletion ; Chromosome Duplication

OBJECTIVETo study the role of promoter methylation of insulin-like growth factor binding protein 3 (IGFBP3) in intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR).

METHODSFifty neonates with IUGR and 30 healthy neonates were enrolled. The promoter methylation status of IGFBP3 in peripheral blood was evaluated by methylation-specific PCR (MSP) and high resolution melting (HRM) techniques.

RESULTSThe complete methylation rate, partial methylation rate and non-methylation rate of IGFBP3 promoter in the IUGR group was 4% (2/50), 40% (20/50) and 56% (28/50), respectively. The partial methylation rate and non-methylation rate of IGFBP3 promoter in the control group were 13% (4/30) and 87% (26/30), respectively. There were significant differences in the promoter methylation rate of IGFBP3 between the two groups (P<0.01).

CONCLUSIONSThe promoter methylation of IGFBP3 gene is associated with the pathogenesis of IUGR.

DNA Methylation ; Female ; Fetal Growth Retardation ; etiology ; genetics ; Humans ; Infant, Newborn ; Insulin-Like Growth Factor Binding Protein 3 ; genetics ; Male ; Promoter Regions, Genetic

OBJECTIVETo study the relationship between Ghrelin and growth hormone secretagogue receptor (GHSR) expression and the catch-up growth in rats with intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR).

METHODSThe rat model of IUGR was established by food restriction during pregnancy. The small for gestational age (SGA) and appropriate for gestational age (AGA) rat pups from the pregnant rats were used as the experimental group. The AGA rat pups from the pregnant rats without food restriction served as the control group. The samples from the stomach fundus and hypothalamus were taken postnatal days 0, 20 and 40. Ghrelin mRNA and GHSR mRNA expression were determined by real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR (real-time FQ-PCR). Ghrelin protein and GHSR protein expression were examined by immunohistochemistry (IHC).

RESULTSAt postnatal day 0, both Gherlin mRNA and protein levels in the stomach fundus were significantly higher, while GHSR mRNA expression in the hypothalamus were significantly lower in SGA rats from food restriction group than those in AGA rats from restriction and control groups. At postnatal day 20, the ghrelin protein expression in the stomach of fundus, and GHSR mRNA and protein expression in the hypothalamus in SGA catch-up rats were significantly higher than those in SGA non-catch-up growth rats and AGA rats from the control group. At postnatal day 40, there were no significant differences among SGA catch-up growth rats, SGA non-catch-up growth rats and normal AGA rats.

CONCLUSIONSGhrelin-GHSR might be involved in the physiological regulation and pathological process in IUGR rats. It is also possibly involved in the regulation of catch-up growth in the early life of SGA rats.

Animals ; Female ; Fetal Growth Retardation ; physiopathology ; Gastric Fundus ; chemistry ; Ghrelin ; analysis ; genetics ; physiology ; Growth ; Hypothalamus ; chemistry ; Immunohistochemistry ; Pregnancy ; Rats ; Receptors, Ghrelin ; analysis ; genetics

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the clinical features of fetuses with Wolf-Hirschhorn syndrome(WHS) and explore the diagnostic methods and prenatal ultrasound characteristics and provide evidence for prenatal genetic counseling. METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed 5 cases of WHS fetuses diagnosed from March 2016 to February 2020, and analyzed the results of chromosomal karyotype analysis and chromosomal microarray analysis (CMA) of the fetuses. RESULTS: Five cases of WHS were detected by CMA, four cases were detected by karyotype analysis. Prenatal ultrasound revealed 4 abnormalities, of which 3 had intrauterine growth restriction, and only 1 had abnormalities of the maxillofacial region. The sequence of the fragments was 4p16.3p16.1 with a loss of 6.5 Mb, 4p16.3p15.32 with a loss of 15.6 Mb combined with 2p25.3 increased by 906kb, 4p16.3p15.31 with a loss of 20.4 Mb, 4p16.p15.1 with a loss of 35 Mb and 4p16.3p14 with a loss of 37 Mb. CONCLUSION Fetal growth restriction may be one of the early manifestations of WHS. Absence of fetal facial abnormality by prenatal ultrasound screening cannot exclude WHS. Karyotype analysis may miss the diagnosis of WHS, while combined CMA techniques can improve the diagnostic accuracy.
Chromosomes, Human, Pair 4/genetics* ; Female ; Fetal Growth Retardation/genetics* ; Humans ; Karyotyping ; Pregnancy ; Prenatal Diagnosis ; Retrospective Studies ; Wolf-Hirschhorn Syndrome/genetics*