MedTrace Logo

A Study of the Placental Methylome of Dichorionic and Monochorionic Monozygotic Twin Pairs to Establish a Timeline of Epigenetic Programming

NCT05733065 · Status: ACTIVE_NOT_RECRUITING · Phase: NA · Type: INTERVENTIONAL · Enrollment: 240

Last updated 2024-02-29

No results posted yet for this study

Summary

The timing of the moment of splitting is variable amongst twins and can be inferred from chorionicity, allowing a time-line of early environmental influences to be established. Monozygotic twins can remain discordant for growth and health outcomes throughout life, implying the prenatal establishment of a regulatory program with effects that persist into adulthood.

Objective: To investigate the effect of the moment of splitting (chorionicity) on the placental and saliva (in adulthood) methylome and cardiometabolic disease risk in monozygotic twin pairs. Birth weight discordance will be used as an indicator of prenatal environmental heterogeneity between the twins.

Conditions

  • Twin Placenta

Interventions

OTHER

saliva sample

Adult twins will be asked to send saliva samples in a reply envelope to Maastricht University, department of Genetics and Cell Biology, where they will be frozen and stored before analysis. DNA will be extracted from the saliva using a commercially available kit according to the manufacturer's instructions.

OTHER

questionnaire

Along with saliva samples, adult twins, will be asked to complete a questionnaire about their health. Study subjects will be asked to self-report height and weight. Additionally, questions will focus on cardiometabolic risk, including questions about smoking, physical activities, medical diagnoses, current medications, family history of cardiometabolic disease, and for female twins an obstetric and gynaecological history, including number of pregnancies and pregnancy complications (such as gestational diabetes and pre-eclampsia). The questionnaire will take the form of a self-completed, web-based questionnaire which will be hosted by the Qualtrics platform (Qualtrics.com). This platform is supported by the University of Maastricht due to its security and privacy measures.

Sponsors & Collaborators

  • Maastricht University Medical Center

    collaborator OTHER

  • University Hospital, Ghent

    lead OTHER

Study Design

Allocation
NA
Purpose
OTHER
Masking
NONE
Model
SINGLE_GROUP

Eligibility

Min Age
18 Years
Sex
ALL
Healthy Volunteers
Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start
2021-01-26
Primary Completion
2025-02-01
Completion
2025-12-31

Countries

  • Belgium

Study Locations

More Related Trials

Read the full study record

This page highlights key information. For complete eligibility criteria, study locations, investigator contacts, and the full protocol, visit the original record on ClinicalTrials.gov.

View NCT05733065 on ClinicalTrials.gov