Changes In DNA Patterns Are Linked To Prenatal Smoke Exposure

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090824182447.htm

ScienceDaily (Aug. 24, 2009) — A new study by researchers at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California (USC) has found that the life-long effects of maternal smoking during pregnancy may occur through specific changes in DNA patterns.

The study found that children exposed in the womb to maternal smoking had differences in DNA methylation, an epigenetic mechanism in which small chemical compounds are added to DNA. The findings provide researchers with valuable insight into a biological process that is not well understood.

-----

Prenatal exposure to smoke is associated with a number of health problems, including childhood asthma, cardiovascular disease and lower pulmonary function later in life.

"Moms should not be smoking during pregnancy," says Linda Birnbaum, Ph.D., the director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, a component of the National Institutes of Health that helped fund the USC study. "Maternal smoking during pregnancy is not only detrimental to the health of the mom and the newborn child, but research such as this suggests that it may impact the child into adulthood and possibly even future generations as well."