Key points are not available for this paper at this time.
Epigenetic scores (EpiScores), reflecting DNA methylation (DNAm)-based surrogates for complex traits, have been developed for multiple circulating proteins. EpiScores for pro-inflammatory proteins, such as C-reactive protein (DNAm CRP), are associated with brain health and cognition in adults and with inflammatory comorbidities of preterm birth in neonates. Social disadvantage can become embedded in child development through inflammation, and deprivation is overrepresented in preterm infants. We tested the hypotheses that preterm birth and socioeconomic status (SES) are associated with alterations in a set of EpiScores enriched for inflammation-associated proteins.
McKinnon et al. (Sat,) studied this question.