DNA Methylation Patterns of Glucocorticoid Pathway Genes in Preterm Birth Among Black Women

Abstract

Preterm birth (PTB; <37 weeks gestation) rates have increased for 5 of the last 6 consecutive years in the United States. These rates are particularly alarming for U.S. non-Hispanic Black women who give birth prematurely at 1.5 times the rate of non-Hispanic White women. Previous research suggests that psychological stress is associated with PTB in Black women. However, the biological pathways by which stress alters birth timing are not clear. We examined DNA methylation (DNAm) in peripheral blood leukocytes in 6 glucocorticoid, stress-related genes in 44 (22 PTB; 22 term birth) pregnant Black women. Four cytosine-phosphate-guanine (CpG) sites were identified as differentially methylated ( p < 0.05) between women with PTB and women with term births. The ability to identify stress-related biological markers that are associated with PTB among Black women would provide a critical step toward decreasing the PTB disparity among these women. Future studies should include larger sample sizes and gene expression analyses of the stress-related biological pathways to PTB.

A Mixed Methods Approach to Understand Mother-Father Relationship and Perceived Stress Among Black Pregnant Women

“…We conducted a secondary analysis using a convergent, mixed methods design38 with participants enrolled in the Biosocial Impact on Black Births (BIBB) study. This research was a prospective, longitudinal, cohort study that examined the associations of biopsychosocial factors across pregnancy with preterm birth outcomes among Black women 39-41. Data were gathered at prenatal clinics in the Midwestern United States from December 2017 to March 2020.…”

“…This research was a prospective, longitudinal, cohort study that examined the associations of biopsychosocial factors across pregnancy with preterm birth outcomes among Black women. [39][40][41] Data were gathered at prenatal clinics in the Midwestern United States from December 2017 to March 2020. Women were enrolled if they met the following inclusion criteria: self-identified as Black or African American, were 18 to 45 years of age, had a singleton pregnancy, were 8 to 29 weeks gestational age, and were able to speak and read English.…”

“…Spearman's rank correlation coefficient was used to examine associations among support and conflict with the FOB and perceived stress. All continuous scale scores were stratified into 3 ranks for analysis as follows: (1) SNAL support subscale scores were low (9)(10)(11)(12)(13)(14)(15)(16)(17)(18)(19)(20), moderate (21)(22)(23)(24)(25)(26)(27)(28)(29)(30)(31)(32), or high (33)(34)(35)(36)(37)(38)(39)(40)(41)(42)(43)(44)(45); (2) SNAL conflict subscale scores were low (5)(6)(7)(8)(9)(10)(11), moderate (12)(13)(14)(15)(16)(17)…”

“…Furthermore, the presentation of quantitative data in Table 4 emphasizes the nuanced but distinctive thematic variation among these typologies, which had clearly emerged through the women's words and experiences as displayed in Table 5. (9)(10)(11)(12)(13)(14)(15)(16)(17)(18)(19)(20), moderate support (21)(22)(23)(24)(25)(26)(27)(28)(29)(30)(31)(32), and high support (33)(34)(35)(36)(37)(38)(39)(40)(41)(42)(43)(44)(45). c Low conflict (5)(6)(7)(8)(9)(10)(11), moderate conflict (12)(13)(14)…”