National Academy of Sciences, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 29(114), p. 7611-7616, 2017
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Significance Environments in infancy and childhood influence levels of inflammation in adulthood—an important risk factor for multiple diseases of aging—but the underlying biological mechanisms remain uncertain. Using data from a unique cohort study in the Philippines with a lifetime of information on each participant, we provide evidence that nutritional, microbial, and psychosocial exposures in infancy and childhood predict adult levels of DNA methylation—biochemical marks on the genome that affect gene expression—in genes that regulate inflammation. We also show that DNA methylation in these genes relates to levels of inflammatory biomarkers implicated in cardiovascular and other diseases. These results suggest that epigenetic mechanisms may partially explain how early environments have enduring effects on inflammation and inflammation-related diseases.