Polymethylation scores for prenatal maternal smoke exposure persist until age 15 and are detected in saliva in the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing cohort. Author Freida Blostein, Jonah Fisher, John Dou, Lisa Schneper, Erin Ware, Daniel Notterman, Colter Mitchell, Kelly Bakulski Publication Year 2022 Type Journal Article Abstract Prenatal maternal smoking is associated with low birthweight, neurological disorders, and asthma in exposed children. DNA methylation signatures can function as biomarkers of prenatal smoke exposure. However, the robustness of DNA methylation signatures across child ages, genetic ancestry groups, or tissues is not clear. Using coefficients from a meta-analysis of prenatal smoke exposure and DNA methylation in newborn cord blood, we created polymethylation scores of saliva DNA methylation from children at ages 9 and 15 in the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing study. In the full sample at age 9 (n = 753), prenatal smoke exposure was associated with a 0.51 (95%CI: 0.35, 0.66) standard deviation higher polymethylation score. The direction and magnitude of the association was consistent in European and African genetic ancestry samples. In the full sample at age 15 (n = 747), prenatal smoke exposure was associated with a 0.48 (95%CI: 0.32, 0.63) standard deviation higher polymethylation score, and the association was attenuated among the European and Admixed-Latin genetic ancestry samples. The polymethylation score classified prenatal smoke exposure accurately (AUC age 9 = 0.77, age 15 = 0.76). Including the polymethylation score increased the AUC of base model covariates by 5 (95% CI: (2.1, 7.2)) percentage points, while including a single candidate site in the gene did not (-value = 0.19). Polymethylation scores for prenatal smoking were portable across genetic ancestries and more accurate than an individual DNA methylation site. Polymethylation scores from saliva samples could serve as robust and practical biomarkers of prenatal smoke exposure. Keywords Humans, Female, Epigenesis, Genetic, Child, DNA Methylation, Biomarkers, Pregnancy, Child Health, Adolescent, Infant, Newborn, Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects, Saliva, Smoke, Maternal Exposure Journal Epigenetics Volume 17 Issue 13 Pages 2223-2240 Date Published 2022 Dec ISSN Number 1559-2308 DOI 10.1080/15592294.2022.2112815 Alternate Journal Epigenetics PMCID PMC9665138 PMID 35980258 PubMedPubMed CentralGoogle ScholarBibTeXEndNote X3 XML