1 4367 192 MIRNA-BASED "FITNESS SCORE" TO ASSESS THE INDIVIDUAL RESPONSE TO DIET, METABOLISM, AND EXERCISE. BACKGROUND: REGULAR, ESPECIALLY SUSTAINED EXERCISE PLAYS AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN THE PREVENTION AND TREATMENT OF MULTIPLE CHRONIC DISEASES. SOME OF THE UNDERLYING MOLECULAR AND CELLULAR MECHANISMS BEHIND THE ADAPTIVE RESPONSE TO PHYSICAL ACTIVITY ARE STILL UNCLEAR, BUT RECENT FINDINGS SUGGEST A POSSIBLE ROLE OF EPIGENETIC MECHANISMS, ESPECIALLY MIRNAS, IN THE PROGRESSION AND MANAGEMENT OF EXERCISE-RELATED CHANGES. DUE TO THE COMBINATION OF THE ANALYSIS OF EPIGENETIC BIOMARKERS (MIRNAS), THE INTAKE OF FOOD AND SUPPLEMENTS, AND GENETIC DISPOSITIONS, A "FITNESS SCORE" WAS EVALUATED TO ASSESS THE INDIVIDUAL RESPONSE TO NUTRITION, EXERCISE, AND METABOLIC INFLUENCE. METHODS: IN RESPONSE TO A 12-WEEK SPORTS INTERVENTION, WE ANALYZED GENETIC AND EPIGENETIC BIOMARKERS IN CAPILLARY BLOOD FROM 61 SEDENTARY, HEALTHY PARTICIPANTS (66.1% FEMALES, 33.9% MALES, MEAN AGE 33 YEARS), INCLUDING LINE-1 METHYLATION, THREE SNPS, AND TEN MIRNAS USING HRM AND QPCR ANALYSIS. THESE BIOMARKERS WERE ALSO ANALYZED IN A HEALTHY, AGE- AND SEX-MATCHED CONTROL GROUP (N, 20) WITHOUT INTERVENTION. FOOD FREQUENCY INTAKE, INCLUDING DIETARY SUPPLEMENT INTAKE, AND GENERAL HEALTH QUESTIONNAIRES WERE SURVEYED UNDER THE SUPERVISION OF TRAINED STAFF. RESULTS: EXERCISE TRAINING DECREASED THE EXPRESSION OF MIR-20A-5P, -22-5P, AND -505-3P (P < 0.02) AND IMPROVED THE "FITNESS SCORE," WHICH ESTIMATES EIGHT DIFFERENT LIFESTYLE FACTORS TO ASSESS, NUTRITION, INFLAMMATION, CARDIOVASCULAR FITNESS, INJURY RISK, REGENERATION, MUSCLE AND HYDRATION STATUS, AS WELL AS STRESS LEVEL. IN ADDITION, WE WERE ABLE TO DETERMINE CORRELATIONS BETWEEN INDIVIDUAL MIRNAS, MIR-20A-5P, -22-5P, AND -101-3P (P < 0.04), AND THE GENETIC PREDISPOSITION FOR ENDURANCE AND/OR STRENGTH AND OBESITY RISK (ACE, ACTN3, AND FTO), AS WELL AS BETWEEN MIRNAS AND THE BODY COMPOSITION (P < 0.05). MIR-19B-3P AND -101-3P CORRELATED WITH THE INTAKE OF B VITAMINS. FURTHER, MIR-19B-3P CORRELATED WITH MAGNESIUM AND MIR-378A-3P WITH IRON INTAKE (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: IN SUMMARY, OUR RESULTS INDICATE THAT A COMBINED ANALYSIS OF SEVERAL BIOMARKERS (MIRNAS) CAN PROVIDE INFORMATION ABOUT AN INDIVIDUAL'S TRAINING ADAPTIONS/FITNESS, BODY COMPOSITION, NUTRITIONAL NEEDS, AND POSSIBLE RECOVERY. IN CONTRAST TO MOST STUDIES USING MUSCLE BIOPSIES, WE WERE ABLE TO SHOW THAT THESE BIOMARKERS CAN ALSO BE MEASURED USING A MINIMALLY INVASIVE METHOD. 2022 2 5638 42 SERUM METABOLOMICS REVEALS PATHWAYS AND BIOMARKERS ASSOCIATED WITH ASTHMA PATHOGENESIS. BACKGROUND: ASTHMA IS A CHRONIC INFLAMMATORY DISEASE CAUSED BY COMPLEX INTERACTIONS OF GENETIC, EPIGENETIC, AND ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS. FOR THIS REASON, NEW APPROACHES ARE REQUIRED TO CLARIFY THE PATHOGENESIS OF ASTHMA BY SYSTEMIC REVIEW. OBJECTIVE: WE APPLIED A (1)H-NMR METABOLOMICS APPROACH TO INVESTIGATE THE ALTERED METABOLIC PATTERN IN SERA FROM PATIENTS WITH ASTHMA AND SOUGHT TO IDENTIFY THE MECHANISM UNDERLYING ASTHMA AND POTENTIAL BIOMARKERS. METHOD: A GLOBAL PROFILE OF SERA FROM PATIENTS WITH ASTHMA (N = 39) AND CONTROLS (N = 26) WAS GENERATED USING (1)H-NMR SPECTROSCOPY COUPLED WITH MULTIVARIATE STATISTICAL ANALYSIS. ENDOGENOUS METABOLITES IN SERUM WERE RAPIDLY MEASURED USING THE TARGET-PROFILING PROCEDURE. RESULTS: MULTIVARIATE STATISTICAL ANALYSIS SHOWED A CLEAR DISTINCTION BETWEEN PATIENTS WITH ASTHMA AND HEALTHY SUBJECTS. SERA OF ASTHMA PATIENTS WERE CHARACTERIZED BY INCREASED LEVELS OF METHIONINE, GLUTAMINE, AND HISTIDINE AND BY DECREASED LEVELS OF FORMATE, METHANOL, ACETATE, CHOLINE, O-PHOSPHOCHOLINE, ARGININE, AND GLUCOSE. THE METABOLITES DETECTED IN THE SERA OF PATIENTS WITH ASTHMA ARE INVOLVED IN HYPERMETHYLATION, RESPONSE TO HYPOXIA, AND IMMUNE REACTION. FURTHERMORE, THE LEVELS OF SERUM METABOLITES FROM PATIENTS WITH ASTHMA CORRELATED WITH ASTHMA SEVERITY; IN PARTICULAR, LIPID METABOLISM WAS ALTERED IN PATIENTS WITH LOWER FORCED EXPIRATORY VOLUME IN 1 S PERCENTAGE (FEV(1)%) PREDICTED VALUES. IN ADDITION, POTENTIAL BIOMARKERS SHOWED STRONG PREDICTIVE POWER IN ROC ANALYSIS, AND THE PRESENCE OF ASTHMA IN EXTERNAL VALIDATION MODELS WAS PREDICTED WITH HIGH ACCURACY (90.9% FOR ASTHMA AND 100% FOR CONTROL SUBJECTS). CONCLUSION & CLINICAL RELEVANCE: THESE DATA SHOWED THAT (1)H-NMR-BASED METABOLITE PROFILING OF SERUM MAY BE USEFUL FOR THE EFFECTIVE DIAGNOSIS OF ASTHMA AND A FURTHER UNDERSTANDING OF ITS PATHOGENESIS. 2013 3 6720 41 VITAMIN D METABOLISM GENES ARE DIFFERENTIALLY METHYLATED IN INDIVIDUALS WITH CHRONIC KNEE PAIN. CONTEXT: RECENT EVIDENCE SUGGESTS THAT VITAMIN D MAY INTERACT WITH THE EPIGENOME AND PLAY A ROLE IN THE PAIN EXPERIENCE. IN ORDER FOR PROPER FUNCTIONING TO OCCUR, THERE MUST BE AN ADEQUATE LEVEL OF VITAMIN D PRESENT, MADE POSSIBLE BY ENZYMATIC REACTIONS THAT ALLOW VITAMIN D TO BE BIOLOGICALLY ACTIVE. THE PURPOSE OF THIS STUDY WAS TO EXPLORE THE EPIGENETIC LANDSCAPE OF GENES INVOLVED IN VITAMIN D METABOLISM IN INDIVIDUALS WITH AND WITHOUT CHRONIC KNEE PAIN. PROCEDURES: COMMUNITY-DWELLING INDIVIDUALS RECRUITED AS PART OF A LARGER STUDY FOCUSED ON KNEE PAIN PROVIDED DEMOGRAPHIC, CLINICAL AND PAIN-RELATED INFORMATION, AS WELL AS AN INTRAVENOUS BLOOD SAMPLE TO DETERMINE DNA METHYLATION LEVELS AT CPG SITES. MAIN FINDINGS: THERE WERE DIFFERENCES IN DNA METHYLATION BETWEEN THOSE WITH AND WITHOUT PAIN IN GENES THAT CODE FOR ENZYMES RELATED TO VITAMIN D METABOLISM: CYP24A1 (24-HYDROXYLASE) AND CYP27B1 (1-?-HYDROXYLASE). THERE WAS ALSO HYPERMETHYLATION ON THE GENE THAT CODES FOR THE VITAMIN D RECEPTOR (VDR). PRINCIPAL CONCLUSIONS: THE PRESENCE OF CHRONIC PAIN IS ASSOCIATED WITH EPIGENETIC MODIFICATIONS IN GENES RESPONSIBLE FOR THE EXPRESSION OF ENZYMES INVOLVED IN VITAMIN D METABOLISM AND CELLULAR FUNCTION. THESE RESULTS LAY GROUNDWORK IN UNDERSTANDING THE MECHANISM UNDERLYING THE ASSOCIATION BETWEEN VITAMIN D AND CHRONIC PAIN. 2023 4 1408 50 DIETARY INTAKE IS ASSOCIATED WITH RESPIRATORY HEALTH OUTCOMES AND DNA METHYLATION IN CHILDREN WITH ASTHMA. BACKGROUND: ASTHMA IS AN INCREASINGLY COMMON CHRONIC DISEASE AMONG CHILDREN, AND DATA POINT TOWARD A COMPLEX MECHANISM INVOLVING GENETIC, ENVIRONMENTAL AND EPIGENETIC FACTORS. EPIGENETIC MODIFICATIONS SUCH AS DNA HYPO- OR HYPER-METHYLATION HAVE BEEN SHOWN TO OCCUR IN RESPONSE TO ENVIRONMENTAL EXPOSURES INCLUDING DIETARY NUTRIENTS. METHODS: WITHIN THE CONTEXT OF THE ASTHMA RANDOMIZED TRIAL OF INDOOR WOOD SMOKE (ARTIS) STUDY, WE INVESTIGATED RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN DIET, ASTHMA HEALTH MEASURES, AND DNA METHYLATION. ASTHMA HEALTH MEASURES INCLUDED A QUALITY OF LIFE INSTRUMENT, DIURNAL PEAK FLOW VARIABILITY (DPFV) AND FORCED EXPIRATORY VOLUME IN THE FIRST SECOND (FEV(1)). DIETARY INTAKE WAS ASSESSED WITH A FOOD FREQUENCY QUESTIONNAIRE. METHYLATION LEVELS OF LINE-1 REPETITIVE ELEMENT AND TWO PROMOTER CPG SITES FOR INTERFERON GAMMA (IFNGAMMA, -186 AND -54) FROM BUCCAL CELL DNA WERE MEASURED USING PYROSEQUENCING ASSAYS. RESULTS: DATA WERE COLLECTED ON 32 CHILDREN WITH ASTHMA LIVING IN WESTERN MONTANA WHO WERE RECRUITED TO THE ARTIS STUDY. SELENIUM AND SEVERAL METHYL DONOR DIETARY NUTRIENTS WERE POSITIVELY ASSOCIATED WITH THE ASTHMA QUALITY OF LIFE MEASURE. INTAKE OF METHYL DONATING NUTRIENTS INCLUDING FOLATE WAS POSITIVELY ASSOCIATED LINE-1 METHYLATION AND NEGATIVELY ASSOCIATED WITH IFNGAMMA CPG-186. HIGHER LEVELS OF LINE-1 METHYLATION WERE ASSOCIATED WITH GREATER DPFV. CONCLUSION: WE IDENTIFIED SEVERAL NUTRIENTS THAT WERE ASSOCIATED WITH IMPROVED QUALITY OF LIFE MEASURES AMONG CHILDREN WITH ASTHMA. THE IFNGAMMA PROMOTER CPG SITE -186 BUT NOT -54 WAS ASSOCIATED WITH THE INTAKE OF SELECTED DIETARY NUTRIENTS. HOWEVER, IN THIS SMALL POPULATION OF CHILDREN WITH ASTHMA, THE IFNGAMMA PROMOTER CPG SITES WERE NOT ASSOCIATED WITH RESPIRATORY HEALTH MEASURES SO IT REMAINS UNCLEAR THROUGH WHICH EPIGENETIC MECHANISM THESE NUTRIENTS ARE IMPACTING THE QUALITY OF LIFE MEASURE. THESE FINDINGS ADD TO THE EVIDENCE THAT DIETARY NUTRIENTS, PARTICULARLY FOODS CONTAINING METHYL DONORS, MAY BE IMPORTANT FOR EPIGENETIC REGULATION AS IT PERTAINS TO THE CONTROL OF ASTHMA. TRIAL REGISTRATION CLINCIALTRIALS.GOV NCT00807183. REGISTERED 10 DECEMBER 2008. 2017 5 5847 40 SUBCLINICAL ATHEROSCLEROSIS AND ACCELERATED EPIGENETIC AGE MEDIATED BY INFLAMMATION: A MULTI-OMICS STUDY. AIMS: EPIGENETIC AGE IS EMERGING AS A PERSONALIZED AND ACCURATE PREDICTOR OF BIOLOGICAL AGE. THE AIM OF THIS ARTICLE IS TO ASSESS THE ASSOCIATION OF SUBCLINICAL ATHEROSCLEROSIS WITH ACCELERATED EPIGENETIC AGE AND TO INVESTIGATE THE UNDERLYING MECHANISMS MEDIATING THIS ASSOCIATION. METHODS AND RESULTS: WHOLE BLOOD METHYLOMICS, TRANSCRIPTOMICS, AND PLASMA PROTEOMICS WERE OBTAINED FOR 391 PARTICIPANTS OF THE PROGRESSION OF EARLY SUBCLINICAL ATHEROSCLEROSIS STUDY. EPIGENETIC AGE WAS CALCULATED FROM METHYLOMICS DATA FOR EACH PARTICIPANT. ITS DIVERGENCE FROM CHRONOLOGICAL AGE IS TERMED EPIGENETIC AGE ACCELERATION. SUBCLINICAL ATHEROSCLEROSIS BURDEN WAS ESTIMATED BY MULTI-TERRITORY 2D/3D VASCULAR ULTRASOUND AND BY CORONARY ARTERY CALCIFICATION. IN HEALTHY INDIVIDUALS, THE PRESENCE, EXTENSION, AND PROGRESSION OF SUBCLINICAL ATHEROSCLEROSIS WERE ASSOCIATED WITH A SIGNIFICANT ACCELERATION OF THE GRIM EPIGENETIC AGE, A PREDICTOR OF HEALTH AND LIFESPAN, REGARDLESS OF TRADITIONAL CARDIOVASCULAR RISK FACTORS. INDIVIDUALS WITH AN ACCELERATED GRIM EPIGENETIC AGE WERE CHARACTERIZED BY AN INCREASED SYSTEMIC INFLAMMATION AND ASSOCIATED WITH A SCORE OF LOW-GRADE, CHRONIC INFLAMMATION. MEDIATION ANALYSIS USING TRANSCRIPTOMICS AND PROTEOMICS DATA REVEALED KEY PRO-INFLAMMATORY PATHWAYS (IL6, INFLAMMASOME, AND IL10) AND GENES (IL1B, OSM, TLR5, AND CD14) MEDIATING THE ASSOCIATION BETWEEN SUBCLINICAL ATHEROSCLEROSIS AND EPIGENETIC AGE ACCELERATION. CONCLUSION: THE PRESENCE, EXTENSION, AND PROGRESSION OF SUBCLINICAL ATHEROSCLEROSIS IN MIDDLE-AGED ASYMPTOMATIC INDIVIDUALS ARE ASSOCIATED WITH AN ACCELERATION IN THE GRIM EPIGENETIC AGE. MEDIATION ANALYSIS USING TRANSCRIPTOMICS AND PROTEOMICS DATA SUGGESTS A KEY ROLE OF SYSTEMIC INFLAMMATION IN THIS ASSOCIATION, REINFORCING THE RELEVANCE OF INTERVENTIONS ON INFLAMMATION TO PREVENT CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE. 2023 6 6547 51 TRANSCRIPTOMICS OF LONG-TERM MEDITATION PRACTICE: EVIDENCE FOR PREVENTION OR REVERSAL OF STRESS EFFECTS HARMFUL TO HEALTH. BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: STRESS CAN OVERLOAD ADAPTIVE MECHANISMS, LEADING TO EPIGENETIC EFFECTS HARMFUL TO HEALTH. RESEARCH ON THE REVERSAL OF THESE EFFECTS IS IN ITS INFANCY. EARLY RESULTS SUGGEST SOME MEDITATION TECHNIQUES HAVE HEALTH BENEFITS THAT GROW WITH REPEATED PRACTICE. THIS STUDY FOCUSED ON POSSIBLE TRANSCRIPTOMIC EFFECTS OF 38 YEARS OF TWICE-DAILY TRANSCENDENTAL MEDITATION((R)) (TM((R))) PRACTICE. MATERIALS AND METHODS: FIRST, USING ILLUMINA((R)) BEADCHIP MICROARRAY TECHNOLOGY, DIFFERENCES IN GLOBAL GENE EXPRESSION IN PERIPHERAL BLOOD MONONUCLEAR CELLS (PBMCS) WERE SOUGHT BETWEEN HEALTHY PRACTITIONERS AND TIGHTLY MATCHED CONTROLS (N = 12, AGE 65). SECOND, THESE MICROARRAY RESULTS WERE VERIFIED ON A SUBSET OF GENES USING QUANTITATIVE POLYMERASE CHAIN REACTION (QPCR) AND WERE VALIDATED USING QPCR IN LARGER TM AND CONTROL GROUPS (N = 45, AGE 63). BIOINFORMATICS INVESTIGATION EMPLOYED INGENUITY((R)) PATHWAY ANALYSIS (IPA((R))), DAVID, GENOMATIX, AND R PACKAGES. RESULTS: THE 200 GENES AND LOCI FOUND TO MEET STRICT CRITERIA FOR DIFFERENTIAL EXPRESSION IN THE MICROARRAY EXPERIMENT SHOWED CONTRASTING PATTERNS OF EXPRESSION THAT DISTINGUISHED THE TWO GROUPS. DIFFERENTIAL EXPRESSION RELATING TO IMMUNE FUNCTION AND ENERGY EFFICIENCY WERE MOST APPARENT. IN THE TM GROUP, RELATIVE TO THE CONTROL, ALL 49 GENES ASSOCIATED WITH INFLAMMATION WERE DOWNREGULATED, WHILE GENES ASSOCIATED WITH ANTIVIRAL AND ANTIBODY COMPONENTS OF THE DEFENSE RESPONSE WERE UPREGULATED. THE LARGEST EXPRESSION DIFFERENCES WERE SHOWN BY SIX GENES RELATED TO ERYTHROCYTE FUNCTION THAT APPEARED TO REFLECT A CONDITION OF LOWER ENERGY EFFICIENCY IN THE CONTROL GROUP. RESULTS SUPPORTING THESE GENE EXPRESSION DIFFERENCES WERE OBTAINED WITH QPCR-MEASURED EXPRESSION BOTH IN THE WELL-MATCHED MICROARRAY GROUPS AND IN THE LARGER, LESS WELL-MATCHED GROUPS. CONCLUSIONS: THESE FINDINGS ARE CONSISTENT WITH PREDICTIONS BASED ON RESULTS FROM EARLIER RANDOMIZED TRIALS OF MEDITATION AND MAY PROVIDE EVIDENCE FOR STRESS-RELATED MOLECULAR MECHANISMS UNDERLYING REDUCTIONS IN ANXIETY, POST-TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER (PTSD), CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE (CVD), AND OTHER CHRONIC DISORDERS AND DISEASES. 2021 7 1519 32 DNA METHYLATION AT ATP11A CG11702988 IS A BIOMARKER OF LUNG DISEASE SEVERITY IN CYSTIC FIBROSIS: A LONGITUDINAL STUDY. CYSTIC FIBROSIS (CF) IS A CHRONIC GENETIC DISEASE THAT MAINLY AFFECTS THE RESPIRATORY AND GASTROINTESTINAL SYSTEMS. NO CURATIVE TREATMENTS ARE AVAILABLE, BUT THE FOLLOW-UP IN SPECIALIZED CENTERS HAS GREATLY IMPROVED THE PATIENT LIFE EXPECTANCY. ROBUST BIOMARKERS ARE REQUIRED TO MONITOR THE DISEASE, GUIDE TREATMENTS, STRATIFY PATIENTS, AND PROVIDE OUTCOME MEASURES IN CLINICAL TRIALS. IN THE PRESENT STUDY, WE OUTLINE A STRATEGY TO SELECT PUTATIVE DNA METHYLATION BIOMARKERS OF LUNG DISEASE SEVERITY IN CYSTIC FIBROSIS PATIENTS. IN THE DISCOVERY STEP, WE SELECTED SEVEN POTENTIAL BIOMARKERS USING A GENOME-WIDE DNA METHYLATION DATASET THAT WE GENERATED IN NASAL EPITHELIAL SAMPLES FROM THE METHYLCF COHORT. IN THE REPLICATION STEP, WE ASSESSED THE SAME BIOMARKERS USING SPUTUM CELL SAMPLES FROM THE METHYLBIOMARK COHORT. OF INTEREST, DNA METHYLATION AT THE CG11702988 SITE (ATP11A GENE) POSITIVELY CORRELATED WITH LUNG FUNCTION AND BMI, AND NEGATIVELY CORRELATED WITH LUNG DISEASE SEVERITY, P. AERUGINOSA CHRONIC INFECTION, AND THE NUMBER OF EXACERBATIONS. THESE RESULTS WERE REPLICATED IN PROSPECTIVE SPUTUM SAMPLES COLLECTED AT FOUR TIME POINTS WITHIN AN 18-MONTH PERIOD AND LONGITUDINALLY. TO CONCLUDE, (I) WE IDENTIFIED A DNA METHYLATION BIOMARKER THAT CORRELATES WITH CF SEVERITY, (II) WE PROVIDED A METHOD TO EASILY ASSESS THIS BIOMARKER, AND (III) WE CARRIED OUT THE FIRST LONGITUDINAL ANALYSIS OF DNA METHYLATION IN CF PATIENTS. THIS NEW EPIGENETIC BIOMARKER COULD BE USED TO STRATIFY CF PATIENTS IN CLINICAL TRIALS. 2021 8 1841 48 EFFECTS OF SHORT CHAIN FATTY ACID PRODUCING BACTERIA ON EPIGENETIC REGULATION OF FFAR3 IN TYPE 2 DIABETES AND OBESITY. THE HUMAN GUT MICROBIOTA AND MICROBIAL INFLUENCES ON LIPID AND GLUCOSE METABOLISM, SATIETY, AND CHRONIC LOW-GRADE INFLAMMATION ARE KNOWN TO BE INVOLVED IN METABOLIC SYNDROME. FERMENTATION END PRODUCTS, ESPECIALLY SHORT CHAIN FATTY ACIDS, ARE BELIEVED TO ENGAGE THE EPIGENETIC REGULATION OF INFLAMMATORY REACTIONS VIA FFARS (FREE FATTY ACID RECEPTOR) AND OTHER SHORT CHAIN FATTY ACID RECEPTORS. WE STUDIED A POTENTIAL INTERACTION OF THE MICROBIOTA WITH EPIGENETIC REGULATION IN OBESE AND TYPE 2 DIABETES PATIENTS COMPARED TO A LEAN CONTROL GROUP OVER A FOUR MONTH INTERVENTION PERIOD. INTERVENTION COMPRISED A GLP-1 AGONIST (GLUCAGON-LIKE PEPTIDE 1) FOR TYPE 2 DIABETICS AND NUTRITIONAL COUNSELING FOR BOTH INTERVENTION GROUPS. MICROBIOTA WAS ANALYZED FOR ABUNDANCE, BUTYRYL-COA:ACETATE COA-TRANSFERASE GENE AND FOR DIVERSITY BY POLYMERASE CHAIN REACTION AND 454 HIGH-THROUGHPUT SEQUENCING. EPIGENETIC METHYLATION OF THE PROMOTER REGION OF FFAR3 AND LINE1 (LONG INTERSPERSED NUCLEAR ELEMENT 1) WAS ANALYZED USING BISULFITE CONVERSION AND PYROSEQUENCING. THE DIVERSITY OF THE MICROBIOTA AS WELL AS THE ABUNDANCE OF FAECALIBACTERIUM PRAUSNITZII WERE SIGNIFICANTLY LOWER IN OBESE AND TYPE 2 DIABETIC PATIENTS COMPARED TO LEAN INDIVIDUALS. RESULTS FROM CLOSTRIDIUM CLUSTER IV AND CLOSTRIDIUM CLUSTER XIVA SHOWED A DECREASING TREND IN TYPE 2 DIABETICS IN COMPARISON TO THE BUTYRYL-COA:ACETATE COA-TRANSFERASE GENE AND ACCORDING TO MELT CURVE ANALYSIS. DURING INTERVENTION NO SIGNIFICANT CHANGES WERE OBSERVED IN EITHER INTERVENTION GROUP. THE ANALYSIS OF FIVE CPGS IN THE PROMOTER REGION OF FFAR3 SHOWED A SIGNIFICANT LOWER METHYLATION IN OBESE AND TYPE 2 DIABETICS WITH AN INCREASE IN OBESE PATIENTS OVER THE INTERVENTION PERIOD. THESE RESULTS DISCLOSED A SIGNIFICANT CORRELATION BETWEEN A HIGHER BODY MASS INDEX AND LOWER METHYLATION OF FFAR3. LINE-1, A MARKER OF GLOBAL METHYLATION, INDICATED NO SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE THREE GROUPS OR THE TIME POINTS, ALTHOUGH METHYLATION OF TYPE 2 DIABETICS TENDED TO INCREASE OVER TIME. OUR RESULTS PROVIDE EVIDENCE THAT A DIFFERENT COMPOSITION OF GUT MICROBIOTA IN OBESITY AND TYPE 2 DIABETES AFFECT THE EPIGENETIC REGULATION OF GENES. INTERACTIONS BETWEEN THE MICROBIOTA AND EPIGENETIC REGULATION MAY INVOLVE NOT ONLY SHORT CHAIN FATTY ACIDS BINDING TO FFARS. THEREFORE DIETARY INTERVENTIONS INFLUENCING MICROBIAL COMPOSITION MAY BE CONSIDERED AS AN OPTION IN THE ENGAGEMENT AGAINST METABOLIC SYNDROME. 2014 9 5734 48 SMALL NON-CODING RNAS ARE ALTERED BY SHORT-TERM SPRINT INTERVAL TRAINING IN MEN. SMALL NON-CODING RNAS (NCRNAS) ARE EMERGING AS IMPORTANT MOLECULES FOR NORMAL BIOLOGICAL PROCESSES AND ARE DEREGULATED IN DISEASE. EXERCISE TRAINING IS A POWERFUL THERAPEUTIC STRATEGY THAT PREVENTS CARDIOMETABOLIC DISEASE AND IMPROVES CARDIORESPIRATORY FITNESS AND PERFORMANCE. DESPITE THE KNOWN SYSTEMIC HEALTH BENEFITS OF EXERCISE TRAINING, THE UNDERLYING MOLECULAR MECHANISMS ARE INCOMPLETELY UNDERSTOOD. RECENT EVIDENCE SUGGESTS A ROLE FOR EPIGENETIC MECHANISMS, SUCH AS MICRORNAS, BUT WHETHER OTHER SMALL NCRNAS ARE MODULATED BY CHRONIC EXERCISE TRAINING IS UNKNOWN. HERE, WE USED SMALL RNA SEQUENCING TO EXPLORE WHETHER SPRINT INTERVAL TRAINING (SIT) CONTROLS THE ABUNDANCE OF CIRCULATING SMALL NCRNAS IN HUMAN WHOLE BLOOD SAMPLES. TEN HEALTHY MEN PERFORMED SIT THREE TIMES A WEEK FOR 6 WEEKS. AFTER TRAINING, SUBJECTS SHOWED MARKED IMPROVEMENTS IN MAXIMAL OXYGEN CONSUMPTION AND CYCLING PERFORMANCE WITH CONCURRENT CHANGES TO THE ABUNDANCE OF DIVERSE SPECIES OF CIRCULATING SMALL NCRNAS (N = 1266 SMALL NCRNAS, N = 13 MICRORNAS, Q < 0.05). TWELVE MICRORNAS ALTERED BY 6 WEEKS OF SIT WERE UBIQUITOUSLY EXPRESSED MICRORNAS AND TWO REGULATED IMPORTANT SIGNALING PATHWAYS, INCLUDING P53, THYROID HORMONE AND CELL CYCLE SIGNALING. MICRORNAS ALTERED BY 6 WEEKS OF SIT WERE UNCHANGED AFTER A SINGLE SESSION OF SIT (N = 24, ALL P > 0.05). RELATIVE TO OLDER INDIVIDUALS, YOUNGER SUBJECTS EXHIBITED AN INCREASED ACUTE SIT-INDUCED FOLD CHANGE IN MIR-1301-3P (P = 0.02) - A MICRORNA PREDICTED TO TARGET MRNAS INVOLVED IN ALTERNATIVE SPLICING, PHOSPHOPROTEIN AND CHROMOSOMAL REARRANGEMENT PROCESSES (ALL P < 0.001). OUR FINDINGS INDICATE MANY SPECIES OF CIRCULATING SMALL NCRNAS ARE MODULATED BY EXERCISE TRAINING AND THAT THEY COULD CONTROL SIGNALING PATHWAYS RESPONSIBLE FOR HEALTH BENEFITS ACHIEVED FROM EXERCISE. 2018 10 3751 49 INTAKE OF NATURAL COMPOUNDS AND CIRCULATING MICRORNA EXPRESSION LEVELS: THEIR RELATIONSHIP INVESTIGATED IN HEALTHY SUBJECTS WITH DIFFERENT DIETARY HABITS. DIET HAS A STRONG INFLUENCE ON MANY PHYSIOLOGICAL PROCESSES, WHICH IN TURN HAVE IMPORTANT IMPLICATIONS ON A VARIETY OF PATHOLOGICAL CONDITIONS. IN THIS RESPECT, MICRORNAS (MIRNAS), A CLASS OF SMALL NON-CODING RNAS PLAYING A RELEVANT EPIGENETIC ROLE IN CONTROLLING GENE EXPRESSION, MAY REPRESENT MEDIATORS BETWEEN THE DIETARY INTAKE AND THE HEALTHY STATUS. DESPITE GREAT ADVANCES IN THE FIELD OF NUTRI-EPIGENOMICS, IT REMAINS UNCLEAR HOW MIRNA EXPRESSION IS MODULATED BY THE DIET AND, SPECIFICALLY, THE INTAKE OF SPECIFIC NUTRIENTS. WE INVESTIGATED THE WHOLE CIRCULATING MIRNOME BY SMALL RNA-SEQUENCING PERFORMED ON PLASMA SAMPLES OF 120 HEALTHY VOLUNTEERS WITH DIFFERENT DIETARY HABITS (VEGANS, VEGETARIANS, AND OMNIVORES). DIETARY INTAKES OF SPECIFIC NUTRIENTS WERE ESTIMATED FOR EACH SUBJECT FROM THE INFORMATION REPORTED IN THE FOOD-FREQUENCY QUESTIONNAIRE PREVIOUSLY VALIDATED IN THE EPIC STUDY. WE FOCUSED HEREBY ON THE INTAKE OF 23 NATURAL COMPOUNDS (NCS) OF THE CLASSES OF LIPIDS, MICRO-ELEMENTS, AND VITAMINS. WE IDENTIFIED 78 SIGNIFICANT CORRELATIONS (RHO > 0.300, P-VALUE < 0.05) AMONG THE ESTIMATED DAILY INTAKE OF 13 NCS AND THE EXPRESSION LEVELS OF 58 PLASMA MIRNAS. OVERALL, VITAMIN D, SODIUM, AND VITAMIN E CORRELATED WITH THE LARGEST NUMBER OF MIRNAS. ALL THE IDENTIFIED CORRELATIONS WERE CONSISTENT AMONG THE THREE DIETARY GROUPS AND 22 OF THEM WERE CONFIRMED AS SIGNIFICANT (P-VALUE < 0.05) BY AGE-, GENDER-, AND BODY-MASS INDEX-ADJUSTED GENERALIZED LINEAR REGRESSION MODEL ANALYSIS. MIR-23A-3P EXPRESSION LEVELS WERE RELATED WITH DIFFERENT NCS INCLUDING A SIGNIFICANT POSITIVE CORRELATION WITH SODIUM (RHO = 0.377) AND SIGNIFICANT NEGATIVE CORRELATIONS WITH LIPID-RELATED NCS AND VITAMIN E. CONVERSELY, THE ESTIMATED INTAKE OF VITAMIN D WAS NEGATIVELY CORRELATED WITH THE EXPRESSION OF THE HIGHEST NUMBER OF CIRCULATING MIRNAS, PARTICULARLY MIR-1277-5P (RHO = -0.393) AND MIR-144-3P (RHO = -0.393). FUNCTIONAL ANALYSIS OF THE TARGETS OF SODIUM INTAKE-CORRELATED MIRNAS HIGHLIGHTED TERMS RELATED TO CARDIAC DEVELOPMENT. A SIMILAR APPROACH ON TARGETS OF THOSE MIRNAS CORRELATED WITH VITAMIN D INTAKE SHOWED AN ENRICHMENT IN GENES INVOLVED IN HORMONE METABOLISMS, WHILE THE RESPONSE TO CHRONIC INFLAMMATION WAS AMONG THE TOP ENRICHED PROCESSES INVOLVING TARGETS OF MIRNAS NEGATIVELY RELATED WITH VITAMIN E INTAKE. OUR FINDINGS SHOW THAT NUTRIENTS THROUGH THE HABITUAL DIET INFLUENCE CIRCULATING MIRNA PROFILES AND HIGHLIGHT THAT THIS ASPECT MUST BE CONSIDERED IN THE NUTRI-EPIGENOMIC RESEARCH. 2020 11 177 37 ACCELERATED EPIGENETIC AGING AND INFLAMMATORY/IMMUNOLOGICAL PROFILE (IPAGE) IN PATIENTS WITH CHRONIC KIDNEY DISEASE. CHRONIC KIDNEY DISEASE (CKD) IS DEFINED BY A REDUCED ESTIMATED GLOMERULAR FILTRATION RATE (EGFR). THIS FAILURE CAN BE RELATED TO A PHENOTYPE OF ACCELERATED AGING. IN THIS WORK, WE CONSIDERED 76 PATIENTS WITH END-STAGE RENAL DISEASE (ESRD) AND 83 HEALTHY CONTROLS. WE CONCOMITANTLY EVALUATED FOR THE FIRST TIME TWO MEASURES THAT CAN BE INFORMATIVE OF THE RATE OF AGING, I.E., WHOLE BLOOD DNA METHYLATION USING THE ILLUMINA INFINIUM EPIC ARRAY AND PLASMA LEVELS OF A SELECTION OF INFLAMMATORY/IMMUNOLOGICAL PROTEINS USING MULTIPLEX IMMUNOASSAYS. FIRST OF ALL, WE DEMONSTRATED ACCELERATED AGING IN TERMS OF THE MOST COMMON EPIGENETIC AGE ESTIMATORS IN CKD PATIENTS. MOREOVER, WE DEVELOPED A NEW CLOCK/PREDICTOR OF AGE BASED ON THE INFLAMMATORY/IMMUNOLOGICAL PROFILE (IPAGE) AND IDENTIFIED THE INFLAMMATORY/IMMUNOLOGICAL BIOMARKERS DIFFERENTIALLY EXPRESSED BETWEEN CASES AND CONTROLS. IPAGE APPEARED TO BE MORE SENSITIVE THAN EPIGENETIC CLOCKS IN QUANTIFYING THE ACCELERATED AGING PHENOTYPE OF ESRD PATIENTS. INTERESTINGLY, WE DID NOT FIND ANY CORRELATION BETWEEN THE AGE ACCELERATION EVALUATED ACCORDING TO THE EPIGENETIC CLOCKS AND IPAGE IN EITHER THE ESRD GROUP OR THE CONTROL GROUP. ON THE WHOLE, OUR DATA SHOW A CONSISTENT ACCELERATED AGING PHENOTYPE IN ESRD PATIENTS, WHICH IS BETTER APPRECIATED BY QUANTIFYING THE UNDERLYING INFLAMMATORY PROCESSES (INFLAMMAGING) BY IPAGE THAN BY USING EPIGENETIC CLOCKS. 2022 12 2093 34 EPIGENETIC EFFECTS FOLLOWING ACUTE AND CHRONIC EXERCISE IN CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW. INTRODUCTION: ACUTE EXERCISE AND EXERCISE TRAINING MAY CONFER EPIGENETIC MODIFICATIONS IN HEALTHY SUBJECTS. EPIGENETIC EFFECTS AFTER EXERCISE HAVE BEEN SHOWED IN PATIENTS WITH CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE. THE AIM OF THIS SYSTEMATIC REVIEW WAS TO SUMMARIZE THE EVIDENCE FROM AVAILABLE CLINICAL TRIALS THAT STUDY EPIGENETIC ADAPTATIONS AFTER EXERCISE IN PATIENTS WITH CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE. METHODS: THE SEARCH STRATEGY WAS PERFORMED IN PUBMED AND CENTRAL DATABASES ON ARTICLES PUBLISHED UNTIL SEPTEMBER 2020. STUDIES WITH TITLES AND ABSTRACTS RELEVANT TO EXERCISE EPIGENETIC MODIFICATION APPLIED TO CARDIOVASCULAR PATIENTS WERE FULLY EXAMINED. INCLUSION AND EXCLUSION CRITERIA WERE UTILIZED FOR STUDIES SCREENING. QUALITY ASSESSMENT WITH PEDRO SCALE AND EVALUATION BY TWO INDEPENDENT REVIEWERS WAS PERFORMED. RESULTS: OF THE 1714 ARTICLES RETRIEVED, 88 ARTICLES WERE ASSESSED FOR ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA AND 8 ARTICLES MATCHED OUR SEARCH CRITERIA AND FINALLY INCLUDED IN THE SYSTEMATIC ANALYSIS. THE ACUTE EXERCISE EPIGENETIC (MIRNAS) EFFECTS WERE ASSESSED IN THREE STUDIES AND THE CHRONIC EXERCISE TRAINING EFFECTS (MIRNAS AND DNA METHYLATION) IN SIX STUDIES. THE RESULTS HAVE SHOWN THAT THERE IS POSSIBLY AN ACUTE SIGNIFICANT EXERCISE EFFECT ON EPIGENETIC TARGETS WHICH IS MORE EVIDENT AFTER CHRONIC EXERCISE TRAINING. CONCLUSIONS: BY THE PRESENT SYSTEMATIC REVIEW, WE PROVIDE PRELIMINARY EVIDENCE OF BENEFICIAL EPIGENETIC ADAPTATIONS FOLLOWING ACUTE AND CHRONIC EXERCISE IN PATIENTS WITH CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE. MORE CONTROLLED STUDIES ARE NEEDED TO CONFIRM SUCH EVIDENCE. 2021 13 1567 37 DNA METHYLATION OF THE KLF14 GENE REGION IN WHOLE BLOOD CELLS PROVIDES PREDICTION FOR THE CHRONIC INFLAMMATION IN THE ADIPOSE TISSUE. KRUPPEL-LIKE FACTOR 14 (KLF14) GENE, WHICH APPEARS TO BE A MASTER REGULATOR OF GENE EXPRESSION IN THE ADIPOSE TISSUE AND HAVE PREVIOUSLY BEEN ASSOCIATED WITH BMI AND TYPE 2 DIABETES (T2D) BY LARGE GENOME-WIDE ASSOCIATION STUDIES. IN ORDER TO FIND PREDICTIVE BIOMARKERS FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF T2D, IT IS NECESSARY TO TAKE EPIGENOMIC CHANGES AFFECTED BY ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS INTO ACCOUNT. THIS STUDY FOCUSES ON AGEING AND OBESITY, WHICH ARE T2D RISK FACTORS, AND EXAMINES EPIGENETIC CHANGES AND INFLAMMATORY CHANGES. WE INVESTIGATED DNA METHYLATION CHANGES IN THE KLF14 PROMOTER REGION IN DIFFERENT ORGANS OF MICE FOR COMPARING AGING AND WEIGHT. WE FOUND THAT METHYLATION LEVELS OF THESE SITES WERE INCREASED WITH AGING AND WEIGHT IN THE SPLEEN, THE ADIPOSE TISSUE, THE KIDNEY, THE LUNG, THE COLON AND THE WHOLE BLOOD CELLS. IN ADDITION, IN THE SPLEEN, THE ADIPOSE TISSUE AND THE WHOLE BLOOD, THESE EPIGENETIC CHANGES WERE ALSO SIGNIFICANTLY ASSOCIATED WITH INFLAMMATORY LEVELS. MOREOVER, NOT ONLY KLF14, BUT ALSO EXPRESSION LEVELS OF SOME DOWNSTREAM GENES WERE DECREASED WITH METHYLATION IN THE SPLEEN, THE ADIPOSE TISSUE AND THE WHOLE BLOOD CELLS. TAKEN TOGETHER, OUR RESULTS SUGGEST THAT METHYLATION CHANGES OF KLF14 IN THOSE TISSUES MAY BE ASSOCIATED WITH CHANGES IN GENE EXPRESSION AND INFLAMMATION ON THE ADIPOSE TISSUE OF OBESITY AND T2D. IN ADDITION, THE METHYLATION CHANGES IN THE WHOLE BLOOD CELLS MAY SERVE AS A PREDICTIVE EPIGENETIC BIOMARKER FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF T2D. 2018 14 3652 33 INDIVIDUAL DNA METHYLATION PATTERN SHIFTS IN NANOPARTICLES-EXPOSED WORKERS ANALYZED IN FOUR CONSECUTIVE YEARS. A DNA METHYLATION PATTERN REPRESENTS AN ORIGINAL PLAN OF THE FUNCTION SETTINGS OF INDIVIDUAL CELLS AND TISSUES. THE BASIC STRATEGIES OF ITS DEVELOPMENT AND CHANGES DURING THE HUMAN LIFETIME ARE KNOWN, BUT THE DETAILS RELATED TO ITS MODIFICATION OVER THE YEARS ON AN INDIVIDUAL BASIS HAVE NOT YET BEEN STUDIED. MOREOVER, CURRENT EVIDENCE SHOWS THAT ENVIRONMENTAL EXPOSURE COULD GENERATE CHANGES IN DNA METHYLATION SETTINGS AND, SUBSEQUENTLY, THE FUNCTION OF GENES. IN THIS STUDY, WE ANALYZED THE EFFECT OF CHRONIC EXPOSURE TO NANOPARTICLES (NP) IN OCCUPATIONALLY EXPOSED WORKERS REPEATEDLY SAMPLED IN FOUR CONSECUTIVE YEARS (2016-2019). A DETAILED METHYLATION PATTERN ANALYSIS OF 14 PERSONS (10 EXPOSED AND 4 CONTROLS) WAS PERFORMED ON AN INDIVIDUAL BASIS. A MICROARRAY-BASED APPROACH USING CHIPS, ALLOWING THE ASSESSMENT OF MORE THAN 850 K CPG LOCI, WAS USED. INDIVIDUAL DNA METHYLATION PATTERNS WERE COMPARED BY PRINCIPAL COMPONENT ANALYSIS (PCA). THE RESULTS SHOW THE SHIFT IN DNA METHYLATION PATTERNS IN INDIVIDUAL YEARS IN ALL THE EXPOSED AND CONTROL SUBJECTS. THE OVERALL RANGE OF DIFFERENCES VARIED BETWEEN THE YEARS IN INDIVIDUAL PERSONS. THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE FIRST AND LAST YEAR OF EXAMINATION (A THREE-YEAR TIME PERIOD) SEEM TO BE CONSISTENTLY GREATER IN THE NP-EXPOSED SUBJECTS IN COMPARISON WITH THE CONTROLS. THE SELECTED 14 MOST DIFFERENTLY METHYLATED CG LOCI WERE RELATIVELY STABLE IN THE CHRONICALLY EXPOSED SUBJECTS. IN SUMMARY, THE SPECIFIC TYPE OF LONG-TERM EXPOSURE CAN CONTRIBUTE TO THE FIXING OF RELEVANT EPIGENETIC CHANGES RELATED TO A SPECIFIC ENVIRONMENT AS, E.G., NP INHALATION. 2021 15 810 49 CHANGES IN DNA METHYLATION IN APOE AND ACKR3 GENES IN MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS PATIENTS AND THE RELATIONSHIP WITH THEIR HEAVY METAL BLOOD LEVELS. MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS (MS) IS A CHRONIC INFLAMMATORY DISEASE WITH DEMYELINATED LESIONS IN THE CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM CAUSED BY GENETIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS. DNA METHYLATION AS AN EPIGENETIC CHANGE INFLUENCED BY ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS, INCLUDING HEAVY METALS HAS BEEN IMPLEMENTED IN MS DISEASE. WE INVESTIGATED THE CORRELATION OF DNA METHYLATION CHANGES IN APOE AND ACKR3 GENES IN MS PATIENTS AND THE POSSIBLE ASSOCIATION WITH BLOOD CONCENTRATION OF ARSENIC (AS), CADMIUM (CD) AND LEAD (PB) AS MAJOR HEAVY METAL POLLUTANTS. THIS STUDY INCLUDED 69 RELAPSING-REMITTING MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS (RR-MS) PATIENTS AND 69 AGE/GENDER-MATCHED HEALTHY SUBJECTS. THE HRM REAL-TIME PCR METHOD WAS USED TO INVESTIGATE THE CHANGES IN DNA METHYLATION AND HEAVY METAL CONCENTRATIONS WERE MEASURED BY ELECTROTHERMAL ATOMIC ABSORPTION SPECTROMETRY. OUR RESULTS SHOWED THAT THE METHYLATION PATTERN IN THE ACKR3 GENE OF THE PATIENT GROUP WAS MORE HYPOMETHYLATED, WHILE IN THE CASE OF THE APOE GENE, THIS PATTERN WAS MORE TOWARDS HYPERMETHYLATION COMPARED TO HEALTHY SUBJECTS. MOREOVER, THE BLOOD LEVELS OF AS AND CD METALS, BUT NOT PB, WERE SIGNIFICANTLY HIGHER IN THE PATIENT GROUP COMPARE TO THE CONTROL GROUP (P