PhD defence G.S. (Giulietta) Monasso

Below is a brief summary of the dissertation:

Cardiovascular disease is the dominant cause of death globally and originates at least partly in the earliest phase of life. Cardiovascular risk factors in childhood have been associated with cardiovascular and metabolic health and premature death in adulthood. Fetal exposure to suboptimal one-carbon metabolism markers as well as early growth are related to cardiovascular and metabolic health outcomes from birth onwards. This concept is known as the Developmental Origins of Health and Disease (DOHaD). Differential DNA methylation is a promising mechanism underlying these associations.

This thesis had three main objectives. First, to study associations of vitamin B12, folate and homocysteine concentrations during pregnancy with cardiovascular and metabolic health outcomes at school-age. Second, to examine associations of early growth with cardiovascular health outcomes at school-age. Third, to relate differential DNA methylation to both one-carbon metabolism markers during pregnancy and cardiovascular health outcomes at school-age. The studies in this thesis were embedded in the Generation R Study, a population-based prospective cohort study from early pregnancy onwards. One meta-analysis additionally included data from five other birth cohorts and was performed in the framework of the Pregnancy And Childhood Epigenetics (PACE) Consortium.