Kansallisen väestötutkimuksen kasvu ylisukupolviseksi kohortiksi

Authors

• Suvi Rovio Väestötutkimuskeskus, Turun yliopisto ja Turun yliopistollinen keskussairaala; Sydäntutkimuskeskus, Turun yliopisto; Kansanterveystieteen oppiaine, Turun yliopisto ja Turun yliopistollinen keskussairaala https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0911-7478
• Katja Pahkala Väestötutkimuskeskus, Turun yliopisto ja Turun yliopistollinen keskussairaala; Sydäntutkimuskeskus, Turun yliopisto; Paavo Nurmi keskus ja Terveysliikunta, Turun yliopisto
• Noora Kartiosuo Matematiikan ja tilastotieteen laitos, Turun yliopisto; Väestötutkimuskeskus, Turun yliopisto ja Turun yliopistollinen keskussairaala; Sydäntutkimuskeskus, Turun yliopisto
• Jaakko Nevalainen Terveystieteen yksikkö, Tampereen yliopisto
• Mika Kähönen Lääketieteen ja terveysteknologian tiedekunta, Tampereen Yliopisto; Kliininen fysiologia, Tampereen yliopistollinen sairaala
• Terho Lehtimäki Lääketieteen ja terveysteknologian tiedekunta, Tampereen Yliopisto; Fimlab OY
• Jorma Viikari Sisätautioppi, Kliininen laitos, Turun yliopisto; Medisiininen toimialue, Turun yliopistollinen keskussairaala
• Olli Raitakari Väestötutkimuskeskus, Turun yliopisto ja Turun yliopistollinen keskussairaala; Sydäntutkimuskeskus, Turun yliopisto; Kliininen fysiologia, Turun yliopistollinen keskussairaala

DOI: https://doi.org/10.23990/sa.138291

Keywords:

longitudinal study, multigenerational cohort, intergenerational inheritance, epigenetic inheritance, life-course study

Abstract

The Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study (Young Finns Study, YFS) was launched in 1980 to follow lifestyle and health of a Finnish population-based cohort from childhood to adulthood. Currently, it is one of the World’s longest on-going studies. The original aim of YFS was to monitor cardiovascular risk factors among Finnish children and adolescents. From the beginning, YFS has applied a multidisciplinary approach, which has even broadened through applying new measurements in the study protocol along the over 40 years follow-up of the cohort.  

Recent data from animal models have suggested that exposure to various stressors such as environmental pollutants, tobacco smoke and psychological stress can lead to phenotypic changes not only in the predisposed individuals, but also in the future generations, such that individuals can acquire phenotypes caused by exposures of their ancestors. The suggested mechanism is epigenetic inheritance in which the information is transmitted to future generations via changes induced to the DNA transcription in the gametes. This specific hypothesis has not been studied in humans before, as no prior population-based studies designed for that purpose exist.

The systematically collected YFS data provided a unique possibility to expand the data collection to cover multiple generations and to study intergenerational associations between various risk factors and offspring health taking into account epigenetic inheritance as a potential mechanistic pathway. Thus, the latest YFS field study was expanded to cover the original YFS participants and their own parents and offspring. Of the 12,853 invited individuals 7341 (57.1%) participated in the study. Of them 6753 (52.2 % of the invited) took part in the clinical examination while 588 participants provided questionnaire data only.

The multigenerational YFS data provide us a unique possibility to study intergenerational associations between parental exposures and offspring health taking into account epigenetic inheritance. Leveraging the data gained from the sperm samples of the male participants we can study how various exposures associate with epigenetic profiles and the possible mediating role of epigenome in the associations between paternal exposures and offspring health. The intergenerational data and its diverging family structures challenge us also to develop statistical modelling methods in order to answer these questions. Results from the multigenerational YFS data will increase our understanding of the phenotypic variation, health and well-being of the offspring generations, and point the way to health initiatives with huge ramifications for public health. Furthermore, a demonstration of epigenetic inheritance in humans in the paternal lineage would lead to fundamental conceptual change in scientific thinking and would open up several new research perspectives.