Research advances in the association between maternal intake of methyl donor nutrients during pregnancy and DNA methylation in offspring

Abstract:

Maternal nutrition during pregnancy plays a vital role in the health of the offspring. Methyl donor nutrients, including folate, vitamin B₁₂, choline, betaine, and methionine, directly affect DNA methylation and are closely associated with the health of the offspring. As an important part of epigenetics, DNA methylation plays an important role in the maintenance of normal cellular function, gene expression regulation, and embryonic development. Recent studies have shown that maternal nutrition may have a long-lasting effect on the health of the offspring via the changes in genomic DNA and/or methylation level in the promoter region in specific genes. Therefore, this review article focuses on the effect of maternal intake of methyl donor nutrients during pregnancy on DNA methylation, in order to explore the effect of the changed methylation status on the health of the offspring at the molecular level.