Aim: Investigate associations of leisure time physical activity (LTPA) with DNA methylation and miRNAs during pregnancy. Patients & methods: LTPA, candidate DNA methylation and circulating miRNAs were measured (average 15 weeks gestation) in pregnant women (n = 92).
Results: Each additional hour of prepregnancy LTPA duration was associated with hypermethylation in C1orf212 (β = 0.137, 95% CI: 0.004-0.270) and higher circulating miR-146b-5p (β = 0.084, 95% CI: 0.017-0.151). Each additional metabolic equivalent hour of early-pregnancy LTPA energy expenditure was associated with higher circulating miR-21-3p (β = 0.431, 95% CI: 0.089-0.772) in women carrying female offspring, and lower circulating miR-146b-5p (β = -0.285, 95% CI: -0.528 to -0.043) and miR-517-5p (β = -0.406, 95% CI: -0.736 to -0.076) in women carrying male offspring.
Conclusion: Our findings suggest that LTPA may influence maternal epigenetic biomarkers, possibly in an offspring sex-specific manner.
Keywords: DNA methylation; miRNA; peripheral blood; physical activity; pregnancy; sex-specific.