Language
English
Publication Date
6-22-2026
Journal
Communications Biology
DOI
10.1038/s42003-026-10500-9
PMID
42331993
PMCID
PMC13650157
PubMedCentral® Posted Date
6-22-2026
PubMedCentral® Full Text Version
Post-print
Abstract
Early identification of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) remains a critical challenge, particularly in utero when non-genetic factors such as maternal obesity (MO) are implicated. Here, we report results of whole-genome bisulfite sequencing of cell-free DNA (cfDNA) from third-trimester maternal plasma in a high-likelihood ASD pregnancy cohort associated with child (3 y) ASD diagnosis and/or MO. Differentially methylated regions (DMRs) between ASD and control cfDNA are strongly enriched for synaptic functions and genes previously implicated in ASD. These cfDNA ASD DMRs recapitulate those observed in ASD placenta and postmortem cortex and significantly overlap with MO DMRs. Our findings establish cfDNA methylation derived from maternal blood as a minimally invasive window into fetal brain ASD etiology, providing a framework for future mechanistic and early intervention studies. Future studies could investigate additional prenatal environmental exposures interacting with genetics during neurodevelopment.
Keywords
Humans, Female, DNA Methylation, Pregnancy, Cell-Free Nucleic Acids, Pregnancy in Obesity, Autistic Disorder, Epigenome, Autism Spectrum Disorder, Adult, Predictive markers, Autism spectrum disorders
Published Open-Access
yes
Recommended Citation
Williams, Logan A; Habibi, Ensieh; Miller, Meghan; et al., "Prenatal Cell-Free Dna Methylome Detects Association With Autism and Maternal Obesity" (2026). Faculty, Staff and Students Publications. 8699.
https://digitalcommons.library.tmc.edu/baylor_docs/8699