Fetal malnutrition is associated with impairment of endogenous melatonin synthesis in pineal via hypermethylation of promoters of protein kinase C alpha and cAMP response element‐binding

This study investigated whether and how fetal malnutrition would influence endogenous melatonin synthesis, and whether such effect of fetal malnutrition would transmit to the next generation. We enrolled 2466 participants and 1313 of their offspring. The urine 6‐hydroxymelatonin sulfate and serum melatonin rhythm were measured. Methylation microarray detection and bioinformatics analysis were performed to identify hub methylated sites. Additionally, rat experiment was performed to elucidate mechanisms. The participants with fetal malnutrition had lower 6‐hydroxymelatonin sulfate (16.59 ± 10.12 μg/24 hours vs 24.29 ± 11.99 μg/24 hours, P