Project overview
This application aims to determine: early biomarkers of cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk at birth/during childhood; the window(s) when early life interventions to reduce the risk of obesity and CVD are most effective; and the nature of potentially effective intervention(s). In the Southampton Women's Survey (SWS) prospective preconception cohort, we have discovered perinatal epigenetic biomarkers of later CVD risk in mechanistically relevant genes, now confirmed in our other cohorts. We will determine how these biomarkers relate to the trajectory of adiposity, cardiovascular structure, function and fitness in SWS children to age 12yrs. Using SWS samples collected at birth and age 12yrs we will extend our panel of epigenetic biomarkers and investigate interactions with fixed genetic variants in relation to CVD risk. Then we will relate the resulting biomarker panel to CVD risk in children from ongoing cohorts in which pre- or post-natal interventions to modify risk factors are being made.
