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Saturday, June 13, 2009

Effect of Alcohol Consumption on CpG Methylation in the Differentially Methylated Regions of H19 and IG-DMR in Male Gametes—Implications for Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders
Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research Published Online: 10 Jun 2009

The aim of this study was to establish a link between alcohol use in men and hypomethylation of paternally imprinted loci in sperm DNA in genomic regions critical for embryonic development, thus providing a mechanism for paternal effects in the aetiology of FASD.

This study demonstrates a correlation between chronic alcohol use and demethylation of normally hypermethylated imprinted regions in sperm DNA. We hypothesize that, should these epigenetic changes in imprinted genes be transmitted through fertilization, they would alter the critical gene expression dosages required for normal prenatal development resulting in offspring with features of FASD.

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Request Reprint E-Mail: michele.ramsay@nhls.ac.za
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