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Fernández-Boyano I, Inkster AM, Yuan V, Robinson WP. eoPred: predicting the placental phenotype of early-onset preeclampsia using public DNA methylation data. Front Genet 2023; 14:1248088. [PMID: 37736302 PMCID: PMC10509376 DOI: 10.3389/fgene.2023.1248088] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/26/2023] [Accepted: 08/08/2023] [Indexed: 09/23/2023] Open
Abstract
Background: A growing body of literature has reported molecular and histological changes in the human placenta in association with preeclampsia (PE). Placental DNA methylation (DNAme) and transcriptomic patterns have revealed molecular subgroups of PE that are associated with placental histopathology and clinical phenotypes of the disease. However, the clinical and molecular heterogeneity of PE both across and within subtypes complicates the study of this disease. PE is most strongly associated with placental pathology and adverse fetal and maternal outcomes when it develops early in pregnancy. We focused on placentae from pregnancies affected by preeclampsia that were delivered before 34 weeks of gestation to develop eoPred, a predictor of the DNAme signature associated with the placental phenotype of early-onset preeclampsia (EOPE). Results: Public data from 83 placental samples (HM450K), consisting of 42 EOPE and 41 normotensive preterm birth (nPTB) cases, was used to develop eoPred-a supervised model that relies on a highly discriminative 45 CpG DNAme signature of EOPE in the placenta. The performance of eoPred was assessed using cross-validation (AUC = 0.95) and tested in an independent validation cohort (n = 49, AUC = 0.725). A subset of fetal growth restriction (FGR) and late-PE cases showed a similar DNAme profile at the 45 predictive CpGs, consistent with the overlap in placental pathology between these conditions. The relationship between the EOPE probability generated by eoPred and various phenotypic variables was also assessed, revealing that it is associated with gestational age, and it is not driven by cell composition differences. Conclusion: eoPred relies on a 45-CpG DNAme signature to predict a homogeneous placental phenotype of EOPE in a discrete or continuous manner. Using this classifier should 1) aid in the study of placental insufficiency and improve the consistency of future placental DNAme studies of PE, 2) facilitate identifying the placental phenotype of EOPE in public data sets and 3) importantly, standardize the placental diagnosis of EOPE to allow better cross-cohort comparisons. Lastly, classification of cases with eoPred will be useful for investigating the relationship between placental pathology and genetic or environmental variables.
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Affiliation(s)
- I. Fernández-Boyano
- BC Children’s Hospital Research Institute (BCCHR), Vancouver, BC, Canada
- Department of Medical Genetics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
| | - A. M. Inkster
- BC Children’s Hospital Research Institute (BCCHR), Vancouver, BC, Canada
- Department of Medical Genetics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
| | - V. Yuan
- BC Children’s Hospital Research Institute (BCCHR), Vancouver, BC, Canada
- Department of Medical Genetics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
| | - W. P. Robinson
- BC Children’s Hospital Research Institute (BCCHR), Vancouver, BC, Canada
- Department of Medical Genetics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
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Cruz JDO, Conceição IMCA, Tosatti JAG, Gomes KB, Luizon MR. Global DNA methylation in placental tissues from pregnant with preeclampsia: A systematic review and pathway analysis. Placenta 2020; 101:97-107. [PMID: 32942147 DOI: 10.1016/j.placenta.2020.09.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/27/2020] [Revised: 08/24/2020] [Accepted: 09/01/2020] [Indexed: 12/28/2022]
Abstract
Pre-eclampsia (PE) is the major cause of fetal and maternal mortality and can be classified according to gestational age of onset into early-onset (EOPE, <34 weeks of gestation) and late- (LOPE, ≥34 weeks of gestation). DNA methylation (DNAm) may help to understand the abnormal placentation in PE. Therefore, we performed a systematic review to assess the role of global DNAm on pathophysiology of PE, focused on fetal and maternal tissues of placenta from pregnant with PE, including EOPE and LOPE. We searched the databases EMBASE, Medline/PubMed, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Scopus, Lilacs, Scielo and Google Scholar, and followed the MOOSE guidelines. Moreover, we performed pathway analysis with the overlapping genes from the included studies. Twelve out of 24 included studies in the qualitative analysis considered the classification into EOPE and LOPE. We did not found heterogeneity in the criteria used for diagnosis of PE, and a few studies evaluated whether confounding factors would influence placental DNAm. Fourteen out of 24 included studies showed hypomethylation in placental tissue from pregnant with PE compared to controls. The differences in DNAm are specific to genes or differentially methylated regions, and more evident in EOPE and preterm PE compared to controls, rather than LOPE and term PE. The overlapping genes from included studies revealed pathways relevant to pathophysiology of PE. Our findings highlighted the heterogeneous results of the included studies, mainly focused on North America and China. Replication studies in different populations should use the same placental tissues, techniques to assess DNAm and pipelines for bioinformatic analysis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Juliana de O Cruz
- Graduate Program in Genetics, Institute of Biological Sciences, Federal University of Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, 31270-901, Brazil
| | - Izabela M C A Conceição
- Department of Genetics, Ecology and Evolution, Institute of Biological Sciences, Federal University of Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, 31270-901, Brazil
| | - Jéssica A G Tosatti
- Department of Clinical and Toxicological Analyzes, Faculty of Pharmacy, Federal University of Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, 31270-901, Brazil
| | - Karina B Gomes
- Department of Clinical and Toxicological Analyzes, Faculty of Pharmacy, Federal University of Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, 31270-901, Brazil
| | - Marcelo R Luizon
- Graduate Program in Genetics, Institute of Biological Sciences, Federal University of Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, 31270-901, Brazil; Department of Genetics, Ecology and Evolution, Institute of Biological Sciences, Federal University of Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, 31270-901, Brazil.
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Cirkovic A, Garovic V, Milin Lazovic J, Milicevic O, Savic M, Rajovic N, Aleksic N, Weissgerber T, Stefanovic A, Stanisavljevic D, Milic N. Systematic review supports the role of DNA methylation in the pathophysiology of preeclampsia: a call for analytical and methodological standardization. Biol Sex Differ 2020; 11:36. [PMID: 32631423 PMCID: PMC7336649 DOI: 10.1186/s13293-020-00313-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/11/2020] [Accepted: 06/18/2020] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Studies have recently examined the role of epigenetic mechanisms in preeclampsia pathophysiology. One commonly examined epigenetic process is DNA methylation. This heritable epigenetic marker is involved in many important cellular functions. The aim of this study was to establish the association between DNA methylation and preeclampsia and to critically appraise the roles of major study characteristics that can significantly impact the association between DNA methylation and preeclampsia. MAIN BODY A systematic review was performed by searching PubMed, Web of Science, and EMBASE for original research articles published over time, until May 31, 2019 in English. Eligible studies compared DNA methylation levels in pregnant women with vs. without preeclampsia. Ninety articles were included. Epigenome-wide studies identified hundreds of differentially methylated places/regions in preeclamptic patients. Hypomethylation was the predominant finding in studies analyzing placental tissue (14/19), while hypermethylation was detected in three studies that analyzed maternal white blood cells (3/3). In candidate gene studies, methylation alterations for a number of genes were found to be associated with preeclampsia. A greater number of differentially methylated genes was found when analyzing more severe preeclampsia (70/82), compared to studies analyzing less severe preeclampsia vs. controls (13/27). A high degree of heterogeneity existed among the studies in terms of methodological study characteristics including design (study design, definition of preeclampsia, control group, sample size, confounders), implementation (biological sample, DNA methylation method, purification of DNA extraction, and validation of methylation), analysis (analytical method, batch effect, genotyping, and gene expression), and data presentation (methylation quantification measure, measure of variability, reporting). Based on the results of this review, we provide recommendations for study design and analytical approach for further studies. CONCLUSIONS The findings from this review support the role of DNA methylation in the pathophysiology of preeclampsia. Establishing field-wide methodological and analytical standards may increase value and reduce waste, allowing researchers to gain additional insights into the role of DNA methylation in the pathophysiology of preeclampsia.
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Affiliation(s)
- A Cirkovic
- Institute for Medical Statistics and Informatics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia
| | - V Garovic
- Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Nephrology and Hypertension, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA
| | - J Milin Lazovic
- Institute for Medical Statistics and Informatics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia
| | - O Milicevic
- Institute for Medical Statistics and Informatics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia
| | - M Savic
- Institute for Medical Statistics and Informatics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia
| | - N Rajovic
- Institute for Medical Statistics and Informatics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia
| | - N Aleksic
- Center for Molecular Biology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - T Weissgerber
- Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Nephrology and Hypertension, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA.,Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin Institute of Health, QUEST Center, Berlin, Germany
| | - A Stefanovic
- Clinic for Gynecology and Obstetrics, Clinical Centre of Serbia, Belgrade, Serbia
| | - D Stanisavljevic
- Institute for Medical Statistics and Informatics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia
| | - N Milic
- Institute for Medical Statistics and Informatics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia. .,Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Nephrology and Hypertension, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA.
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