New Northwestern University research underscores how environmental conditions early in development can cause inflammation in adulthood – an important risk factor for a wide range of diseases of aging, including cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, autoimmune diseases and dementia.

Beyond that, the research helped to explain a key unanswered question about the poorly understood mechanisms shaping the development and regulation of inflammation.

Drawing on prior research that links environmental exposures to inflammatory biomarkers, the research broke new ground in helping to understand: “How is it our bodies ‘remember’ experiences in infancy and carry them forward to shape inflammation and health in adulthood?”

Using data from a large birth cohort study in the Philippines, with a lifetime of information on the study participants, researchers found that nutritional, microbial and psychosocial exposures early in development predict DNA methylation (DNAm) in nine genes involved…