Reader Comments

Post a new comment on this article

Epigenetics and the environment

Posted by CeliaMRoss on 25 Jul 2014 at 10:46 GMT

I found the article by Breton et al (2014) to be fascinating. (1) Breton et al (2014) made an important step toward investigating a possible mechanism, epigenetic disruption, by which tobacco smoke could lead to chronic health problems. For years I have speculated about the possible role of epigenetic modifiers in the environment in influencing chronic disease risk. (2, 3, 4) It is good to see more investigations concerning this. This is a very important article on a very important topic, well-done Breton et al.



References
(1) Breton CV, et al. Prenatal tobacco smoke exposure is associated with childhood DNA CpG methylation. PLoS One. 2014 Jun 25;9(6):e99716.
(2) Ross CM. Letter regarding article by Weitzman et al, "tobacco smoke exposure is associated with the metabolic syndrome in adolescents". Circulation. 2006 Mar 7;113(9):e393
(3) Ross CM. Re: "Cigarette smoking and incidence of first depressive episode: An 11-year, population-based follow-up study". Am J Epidemiol. 2006 Nov 1;164(9):917-8.
(4) Ross CM. A possible epigenetic explanation for the relationship between physical activity and exceptional health among older women. Arch Intern Med. 2010 Jun 28;170(12):1087.

No competing interests declared.