Epigenetic Markers in Growth Restricted Human Pregnancies: a Case-controlled Study

This study is carried out to discover if a baby with restricted growth in the womb is subject to specific fetal programming which predisposes to the metabolic syndrome(diabetes,hypertension,heart disease) in adulthood.We have elected to first study this condition in Chinese population in Singapore with the eventual plan of studying all ethnic groups. This is important for understanding the molecular basis of adult-onset disease such as diabetes, identifying children at risk of developing this disease in future and targeting specific strategies for intervention and disease prevention. Intrauterine fetal programming is effected through epigenetic changes similar to those previously identified in animal studies. The epigenetic markers can be found in growth restricted Chinese pregnancies in the local population.