1 1299 113 DECREASED REELIN EXPRESSION IN THE LEFT PREFRONTAL CORTEX (BA9) IN CHRONIC SCHIZOPHRENIA PATIENTS. BACKGROUND: REELIN IS UNDER EPIGENETIC CONTROL AND HAS BEEN REPORTED TO BE DECREASED IN CORTICAL REGIONS IN SCHIZOPHRENIA. METHODS: TO ESTABLISH IF EXPRESSION OF REELIN IS ALTERED IN SPECIFIC CORTICAL, HIPPOCAMPAL OR THALAMIC REGIONS OF SCHIZOPHRENIA PATIENTS, WE MEASURED GENE EXPRESSION OF REELIN IN A POSTMORTEM STUDY OF ELDERLY PATIENTS WITH SCHIZOPHRENIA AND NON-AFFECTED CONTROLS IN BOTH HEMISPHERES DIFFERENTIATING BETWEEN GRAY AND WHITE MATTER. WE COMPARED CEREBRAL POSTMORTEM SAMPLES (DORSOLATERAL PREFRONTAL CORTEX BA9 AND BA46, SUPERIOR TEMPORAL CORTEX BA22, ENTORHINAL CORTEX BA28, SENSORIC CORTEX BA1-3, HIPPOCAMPUS, CA4, MEDIODORSAL NUCLEUS OF THE THALAMUS) FROM 12 SCHIZOPHRENIA PATIENTS WITH 13 NORMAL SUBJECTS INVESTIGATING GENE EXPRESSION OF REELIN IN THE GRAY AND WHITE MATTER OF BOTH HEMISPHERES BY IN SITU-HYBRIDIZATION. RESULTS: THE LEFT PREFRONTAL AREA (BA9) OF SCHIZOPHRENIA PATIENTS REVEALED A DECREASED EXPRESSION OF REELIN-MRNA OF 29.1% IN THE WHITE (P = 0.022) AND 13.6% IN THE GRAY MATTER (P = 0.007) COMPARED TO THE CONTROL GROUP. NONE OF THE OTHER REGIONS EXAMINED SHOWED ANY STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES. CONCLUSION: SINCE REELIN IS RESPONSIBLE FOR MIGRATION AND SYNAPSE FORMATION, THE DECREASED GENE EXPRESSION OF REELIN IN THE LEFT PREFRONTAL AREA OF SCHIZOPHRENIA PATIENTS POINTS TO NEURODEVELOPMENTAL DEFICITS IN NEURONAL MIGRATION AND SYNAPTIC PLASTICITY. HOWEVER, OUR STUDY GROUP WAS SMALL, AND RESULTS SHOULD BE VERIFIED USING LARGER SAMPLES. 2012 2 5840 27 STRUCTURAL BRAIN CORRELATES OF SERUM AND EPIGENETIC MARKERS OF INFLAMMATION IN MAJOR DEPRESSIVE DISORDER. INFLAMMATORY PROCESSES ARE IMPLICATED IN THE AETIOLOGY OF MAJOR DEPRESSIVE DISORDER (MDD); HOWEVER, THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PERIPHERAL INFLAMMATION, BRAIN STRUCTURE AND DEPRESSION REMAINS UNCLEAR, PARTLY DUE TO COMPLEXITIES AROUND THE USE OF ACUTE/PHASIC INFLAMMATORY BIOMARKERS. HERE, WE REPORT THE FIRST LARGE-SCALE STUDY OF BOTH SEROLOGICAL AND METHYLOMIC SIGNATURES OF CRP (CONSIDERED TO REPRESENT ACUTE AND CHRONIC MEASURES OF INFLAMMATION RESPECTIVELY) AND THEIR ASSOCIATIONS WITH DEPRESSION STATUS/SYMPTOMS, AND STRUCTURAL NEUROIMAGING PHENOTYPES (T1 AND DIFFUSION MRI) IN A LARGE COMMUNITY-BASED SAMPLE (GENERATION SCOTLAND; N(MDD CASES) = 271, N(CONTROLS) = 609). SERUM CRP WAS ASSOCIATED WITH OVERALL MDD SEVERITY, AND SPECIFICALLY WITH CURRENT SOMATIC SYMPTOMS- GENERAL INTEREST (BETA = 0.145, P(FDR) = 6 X 10(-4)) AND ENERGY LEVELS (BETA = 0.101, P(FDR) = 0.027), ALONG WITH REDUCED ENTORHINAL CORTEX THICKNESS (BETA = -0.095, P(FDR) = 0.037). DNAM CRP WAS SIGNIFICANTLY ASSOCIATED WITH REDUCED GLOBAL GREY MATTER/CORTICAL VOLUME AND WIDESPREAD REDUCTIONS IN INTEGRITY OF 16/24 WHITE MATTER TRACTS (WITH GREATEST REGIONAL EFFECTS IN THE EXTERNAL AND INTERNAL CAPSULES, BETA(FA)= -0.12 TO -0.14). IN GENERAL, THE METHYLATION-BASED MEASURES SHOWED STRONGER ASSOCIATIONS WITH IMAGING METRICS THAN SERUM-BASED CRP MEASURES (BETAAVERAGE = -0.15 VERSUS BETAAVERAGE = 0.01 RESPECTIVELY). THESE FINDINGS PROVIDE EVIDENCE FOR CENTRAL EFFECTS OF PERIPHERAL INFLAMMATION FROM BOTH SEROLOGICAL AND EPIGENETIC MARKERS OF INFLAMMATION, INCLUDING IN BRAIN REGIONS PREVIOUSLY IMPLICATED IN DEPRESSION. THIS SUGGESTS THAT THESE IMAGING MEASURES MAY BE INVOLVED IN THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PERIPHERAL INFLAMMATION AND SOMATIC/DEPRESSIVE SYMPTOMS. NOTABLY, GREATER EFFECTS ON BRAIN MORPHOLOGY WERE SEEN FOR METHYLATION-BASED RATHER THAN SERUM-BASED MEASURES OF INFLAMMATION, INDICATING THE IMPORTANCE OF SUCH MEASURES FOR FUTURE STUDIES. 2021 3 525 22 ASSOCIATIONS OF BODY COMPOSITION AND PHYSICAL ACTIVITY LEVEL WITH MULTIPLE MEASURES OF EPIGENETIC AGE ACCELERATION. EPIGENETIC CLOCKS USE DNA METHYLATION TO ESTIMATE BIOLOGICAL AGE. WHETHER BODY COMPOSITION AND PHYSICAL ACTIVITY ARE ASSOCIATED WITH THESE CLOCKS IS NOT WELL UNDERSTOOD. USING BLOOD SAMPLES COLLECTED AT ENROLLMENT (2003-2009) FROM 2,758 WOMEN IN THE US NATIONWIDE SISTER STUDY, WE CALCULATED 6 EPIGENETIC AGE ACCELERATION METRICS USING 4 EPIGENETIC CLOCKS (HANNUM, HORVATH, PHENOAGE, GRIMAGE). RECREATIONAL PHYSICAL ACTIVITY WAS SELF-REPORTED, AND ADIPOSITY MEASURES WERE ASSESSED BY TRAINED MEDICAL EXAMINERS (BODY MASS INDEX (BMI), WAIST-TO-HIP RATIO (WTH), WAIST CIRCUMFERENCE). IN CROSS-SECTIONAL ANALYSES, ALL ADIPOSITY MEASURES WERE ASSOCIATED WITH EPIGENETIC AGE ACCELERATION. THE STRONGEST ASSOCIATION WAS FOR BMI AND PHENOAGE, A MEASURE OF BIOLOGICAL AGE THAT CORRELATES WITH CHRONIC DISEASE (BMI OF >/=35.0 VS. 18.5-24.9, BETA = 3.15 YEARS, 95% CONFIDENCE INTERVAL (CI): 2.41, 3.90; P FOR TREND < 0.001). IN A MUTUAL-ADJUSTMENT MODEL, BOTH WERE ASSOCIATED WITH PHENOAGE AGE ACCELERATION (BMI OF >/=35.0 VS. 18.5-24.9, BETA = 2.69 YEARS, 95% CI: 1.90, 3.48; P FOR TREND < 0.001; QUARTILE 4 VS.1 WTH, BETA = 1.00 YEARS, 95% CI: 0.34, 1.65; P FOR TREND < 0.008). AFTER ADJUSTMENT, PHYSICAL ACTIVITY WAS ASSOCIATED ONLY WITH GRIMAGE (QUARTILE 4 VS. 1, BETA = -0.42 YEARS, 95% CI: -0.70, -0.14; P FOR TREND = 0.001). PHYSICAL ACTIVITY ATTENUATED THE WAIST CIRCUMFERENCE ASSOCIATIONS WITH PHENOAGE AND GRIMAGE. EXCESS ADIPOSITY WAS ASSOCIATED WITH EPIGENETIC AGE ACCELERATION; PHYSICAL ACTIVITY MIGHT ATTENUATE ASSOCIATIONS WITH WAIST CIRCUMFERENCE. 2021 4 1554 32 DNA METHYLATION LEVELS OF RELN PROMOTER REGION IN ULTRA-HIGH RISK, FIRST EPISODE AND CHRONIC SCHIZOPHRENIA COHORTS OF SCHIZOPHRENIA. THE ESSENTIAL ROLE OF THE REELIN GENE (RELN) DURING BRAIN DEVELOPMENT MAKES IT A PROMINENT CANDIDATE IN HUMAN EPIGENETIC STUDIES OF SCHIZOPHRENIA. PREVIOUS LITERATURE HAS REPORTED DIFFERING LEVELS OF DNA METHYLATION (DNAM) IN PATIENTS WITH PSYCHOSIS. THEREFORE, THIS STUDY AIMED TO (1) EXAMINE AND COMPARE RELN DNAM LEVELS IN SUBJECTS AT DIFFERENT STAGES OF PSYCHOSIS CROSS-SECTIONALLY, (2) ANALYSE THE EFFECT OF ANTIPSYCHOTICS (AP) ON DNAM, AND (3) EVALUATE THE EFFECTIVENESS AND APPLICABILITY OF RELN PROMOTER DNAM AS A POSSIBLE BIOLOGICAL-BASED MARKER FOR SYMPTOM SEVERITY IN PSYCHOSIS.. THE STUDY COHORT CONSISTED OF 56 HEALTHY CONTROLS, 87 ULTRA-HIGH RISK (UHR) INDIVIDUALS, 26 FIRST-EPISODE (FE) PSYCHOSIS INDIVIDUALS AND 30 CHRONIC SCHIZOPHRENIA (CS) INDIVIDUALS. THE POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE SYNDROME SCALE (PANSS) WAS USED TO ASSESS SCHIZOPHRENIA SEVERITY. AFTER PYROSEQUENCING SELECTED CPG SITES OF PERIPHERAL BLOOD, THE AVERAGE MEAN DNAM LEVELS WERE COMPARED AMONGST THE 4 SUBGROUPS. OUR RESULTS SHOWED DIFFERING LEVELS OF DNAM, WITH UHR HAVING THE LOWEST (7.72 +/- 0.19) WHILE THE CS HAD THE HIGHEST LEVELS (HC: 8.78 +/- 0.35; FE: 7.75 +/- 0.37; CS: 8.82 +/- 0.48). SIGNIFICANTLY HIGHER AVERAGE MEAN DNAM LEVELS WERE FOUND IN CS SUBJECTS ON AP (9.12 +/- 0.61) COMPARED TO UHR WITHOUT MEDICATION (UHR(-)) (7.39 +/- 0.18). A SIGNIFICANT ASSOCIATION WAS ALSO OBSERVED BETWEEN THE AVERAGE MEAN DNAM OF FE AND PANSS NEGATIVE SYMPTOM FACTOR (R(2) = 0.237, SS = -0.401, *P = 0.033). IN CONCLUSION, OUR FINDINGS SUGGESTED DIFFERENT LEVELS OF DNAM FOR SUBJECTS AT DIFFERENT STAGES OF PSYCHOSIS. THOSE SUBJECTS THAT TOOK AP HAVE DIFFERENT DNAM LEVELS. THERE WERE SIGNIFICANT ASSOCIATIONS BETWEEN FE DNAM AND NEGATIVE PANSS SCORES. WITH MORE FUTURE EXPERIMENTS AND ON LARGER COHORTS, THERE MAY BE POTENTIAL USE OF DNAM OF THE RELN GENE AS ONE OF THE GENES FOR THE BIOLOGICAL-BASED MARKER FOR SYMPTOM SEVERITY IN PSYCHOSIS. 2022 5 1512 30 DNA METHYLATION AND PROTEIN MARKERS OF CHRONIC INFLAMMATION AND THEIR ASSOCIATIONS WITH BRAIN AND COGNITIVE AGING. BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: TO INVESTIGATE CHRONIC INFLAMMATION IN RELATION TO COGNITIVE AGING BY COMPARISON OF AN EPIGENETIC AND SERUM BIOMARKER OF C-REACTIVE PROTEIN AND THEIR ASSOCIATIONS WITH NEUROIMAGING AND COGNITIVE OUTCOMES. METHODS: AT BASELINE, PARTICIPANTS (N = 521) WERE COGNITIVELY NORMAL, AROUND 73 YEARS OF AGE (MEAN 72.4, SD 0.716), AND HAD INFLAMMATION, VASCULAR RISK (CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE HISTORY, HYPERTENSION, DIABETES, SMOKING, ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION, BODY MASS INDEX), AND NEUROIMAGING (STRUCTURAL AND DIFFUSION MRI) DATA AVAILABLE. BASELINE INFLAMMATORY STATUS WAS QUANTIFIED BY A TRADITIONAL MEASURE OF PERIPHERAL INFLAMMATION-SERUM C-REACTIVE PROTEIN (CRP)-AND AN EPIGENETIC MEASURE (DNA METHYLATION [DNAM] SIGNATURE OF CRP). LINEAR MODELS WERE USED TO EXAMINE THE INFLAMMATION-BRAIN HEALTH ASSOCIATIONS; MEDIATION ANALYSES WERE PERFORMED TO INTERROGATE THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CHRONIC INFLAMMATION, BRAIN STRUCTURE, AND COGNITIVE FUNCTIONING. RESULTS: WE DEMONSTRATE THAT DNAM CRP SHOWS SIGNIFICANTLY (ON AVERAGE 6.4-FOLD) STRONGER ASSOCIATIONS WITH BRAIN HEALTH OUTCOMES THAN SERUM CRP. DNAM CRP IS ASSOCIATED WITH TOTAL BRAIN VOLUME (BETA = -0.197, 95% CONFIDENCE INTERVAL [CI] -0.28 TO -0.12, P (FDR) = 8.42 X 10(-6)), GRAY MATTER VOLUME (BETA = -0.200, 95% CI -0.28 TO -0.12, P (FDR) = 1.66 X 10(-5)), AND WHITE MATTER VOLUME (BETA = -0.150, 95% CI -0.23 TO -0.07, P (FDR) = 0.001) AND REGIONAL BRAIN ATROPHY. WE ALSO FIND THAT DNAM CRP HAS AN INVERSE ASSOCIATION WITH GLOBAL AND DOMAIN-SPECIFIC (SPEED, VISUOSPATIAL, AND MEMORY) COGNITIVE FUNCTIONING AND THAT BRAIN STRUCTURE PARTIALLY MEDIATES THIS CRP-COGNITIVE ASSOCIATION (UP TO 29.7%), DEPENDENT ON LIFESTYLE AND HEALTH FACTORS. DISCUSSION: THESE RESULTS SUPPORT THE HYPOTHESIS THAT CHRONIC INFLAMMATION MAY CONTRIBUTE TO NEURODEGENERATIVE BRAIN CHANGES THAT UNDERLIE DIFFERENCES IN COGNITIVE ABILITY IN LATER LIFE AND HIGHLIGHT THE POTENTIAL OF DNAM PROXIES FOR INDEXING CHRONIC INFLAMMATORY STATUS. CLASSIFICATION OF EVIDENCE: THIS STUDY PROVIDES CLASS II EVIDENCE THAT A DNAM SIGNATURE OF CRP LEVELS IS MORE STRONGLY ASSOCIATED WITH BRAIN HEALTH OUTCOMES THAN SERUM CRP LEVELS. 2021 6 1953 29 EPIGENETIC AGE ACCELERATION AND CHRONIC HEALTH CONDITIONS AMONG ADULT SURVIVORS OF CHILDHOOD CANCER. BACKGROUND: MOUNTING EVIDENCE SUPPORTS THE OCCURRENCE OF ACCELERATING AGING AMONG LONG-TERM SURVIVORS OF CHILDHOOD CANCER. WE AIMED TO INVESTIGATE EPIGENETIC AGE ACCELERATION (EAA) IN SURVIVORS AND EVALUATE ASSOCIATIONS BETWEEN EAA, TREATMENT EXPOSURES, HEALTH BEHAVIORS, AND CHRONIC HEALTH CONDITIONS (CHCS). METHODS: GENOME-WIDE METHYLATION DATA WERE GENERATED WITH INFINIUM EPIC BEADCHIP ON BLOOD-DERIVED DNA FROM 2139 SURVIVORS AND 282 FREQUENCY MATCHED CONTROLS FROM THE ST JUDE LIFETIME COHORT STUDY. EAAS WERE ESTIMATED AS RESIDUALS FROM A LINEAR REGRESSION OF EPIGENETIC AGE (LEVINE'S CLOCK) AGAINST CHRONOLOGICAL AGE. ADJUSTED LEAST SQUARE MEAN (ALSM) OF EAA WAS CALCULATED AND COMPARED BETWEEN SURVIVORS AND CONTROLS, ACROSS TREATMENT EXPOSURES AND HEALTH BEHAVIORS. ASSOCIATIONS OF EAA WITH 20 CLINICALLY ASSESSED CHCS WERE EVALUATED WITH MULTIVARIABLE PIECEWISE-EXPONENTIAL MODELS. ALL STATISTICAL TESTS FOR P VALUES BELOW WERE 2-SIDED. RESULTS: EAA WAS STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANTLY HIGHER IN SURVIVORS THAN CONTROLS (ALSM = 0.63, 95% CONFIDENCE INTERVAL [CI] = 0.26 TO 1.01 VS -3.61, 95% CI = -4.43 TO 2.80). IN A MULTIVARIABLE MODEL AMONG SURVIVORS, STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANTLY HIGHER EAA (P < .05) WAS OBSERVED IN THOSE EXPOSED TO CHEST RADIOTHERAPY, ABDOMEN OR PELVIC RADIOTHERAPY, ALKYLATING AGENTS, GLUCOCORTICOIDS, OR EPIPODOPHYLLOTOXINS. COMPARED WITH SURVIVORS WITH FAVORABLE HEALTH BEHAVIORS (ALSM = 0.26, 95% CI=-0.36 TO 0.87), EAA WAS STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANTLY HIGHER AMONG SURVIVORS WITH INTERMEDIATE (ALSM = 1.07, 95% CI = 0.59 TO 1.54) OR UNFAVORABLE HEALTH BEHAVIORS (ALSM = 1.45, 95% CI = 0.60 TO 2.30). IN TIME-TO-EVENT ANALYSES, STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT ASSOCIATIONS WERE IDENTIFIED BETWEEN EAA TERTILES AND INCIDENCE OF 7 CHCS: HYPERTENSION (3RD VS 1ST TERTILE, RELATIVE RATE [RR] = 1.83, 95% CI = 1.17 TO 2.83), MYOCARDIAL INFARCTION (RR = 2.91, 95% CI = 1.27 TO 7.21), OBESITY (RR = 1.39, 95% CI = 1.17 TO 1.66), OBSTRUCTIVE PULMONARY DEFICIT (RR = 1.86, 95% CI = 0.95 TO 3.77), PERIPHERAL MOTOR NEUROPATHY (RR = 2.89, 95% CI = 1.24 TO 6.97), PERIPHERAL SENSORY NEUROPATHY (RR = 2.04, 95% CI = 0.99 TO 4.26), AND PULMONARY DIFFUSION DEFICITS (RR = 2.75, 95% CI = 0.95 TO 7.63). CONCLUSIONS: EAA IS STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANTLY HIGHER IN SURVIVORS OF CHILDHOOD CANCER THAN IN NONCANCER CONTROLS AND IS ASSOCIATED WITH SPECIFIC TREATMENT EXPOSURES, UNFAVORABLE HEALTH BEHAVIORS, AND PRESENCE OF SPECIFIC CHCS. 2021 7 2044 33 EPIGENETIC CLOCK ANALYSIS OF BLOOD SAMPLES IN DRUG-NAIVE FIRST-EPISODE SCHIZOPHRENIA PATIENTS. BACKGROUND: SCHIZOPHRENIA (SCZ) IS A SEVERE AND CHRONIC PSYCHIATRIC DISORDER WITH PREMATURE AGE-RELATED PHYSIOLOGICAL CHANGES. HOWEVER, NUMEROUS PREVIOUS STUDIES EXAMINED THE EPIGENETIC AGE ACCELERATION IN SCZ PATIENTS AND YIELDED INCONCLUSIVE RESULTS. IN THIS STUDY, WE PROPOSE TO EXPLORE THE EPIGENETIC AGE ACCELERATION IN DRUG-NAIVE FIRST-EPISODE SCZ (FSCZ) PATIENTS AND INVESTIGATE WHETHER EPIGENETIC AGE ACCELERATION IS ASSOCIATED WITH ANTIPSYCHOTIC TREATMENT, PSYCHOTIC SYMPTOMS, COGNITION, AND SUBCORTICAL VOLUMES. METHODS: WE ASSESSED THE EPIGENETIC AGE IN 38 DRUG-NAIVE FSCZ PATIENTS AND 38 HEALTHY CONTROLS BY USING THREE INDEPENDENT CLOCKS, INCLUDING HORVATH, HANNUM AND LEVINE ALGORITHMS. THE EPIGENETIC AGE MEASUREMENTS IN SCZ PATIENTS WERE REPEATED AFTER RECEIVING 8 WEEKS RISPERIDONE MONOTHERAPY. RESULTS: OUR FINDINGS SHOWED SIGNIFICANTLY POSITIVE CORRELATIONS BETWEEN EPIGENETIC AGES ASSESSED BY THREE CLOCKS AND CHRONOLOGICAL AGE IN BOTH FSCZ PATIENTS AND HEALTHY CONTROLS. COMPARED WITH HEALTHY CONTROLS, DRUG-NAIVE FSCZ PATIENTS HAVE A SIGNIFICANT EPIGENETIC AGE DECELERATION IN HORVATH CLOCK (P = 0.01), BUT NOT IN HANNUM CLOCK (P = 0.07) AND LEVINE CLOCK (P = 0.43). THE EPIGENETIC AGES OF HANNUM CLOCK (P = 0.002) AND LEVINE CLOCK (P = 0.01) WERE SIGNIFICANTLY ACCELERATED IN SCZ PATIENTS AFTER 8-WEEK RISPERIDONE TREATMENT. HOWEVER, NO SIGNIFICANT ASSOCIATIONS BETWEEN EPIGENETIC AGE ACCELERATION AND PSYCHOTIC SYMPTOMS, COGNITIVE FUNCTION, AS WELL AS SUBCORTICAL VOLUMES WERE OBSERVED IN FSCZ PATIENTS. CONCLUSION: THESE RESULTS DEMONSTRATE THAT DISTINCT EPIGENETIC CLOCKS ARE SENSITIVE TO DIFFERENT ASPECTS OF AGING PROCESS. FURTHER INVESTIGATIONS WITH COMPREHENSIVE EPIGENETIC CLOCK ANALYSES AND LARGE SAMPLES ARE REQUIRED TO CONFIRM OUR FINDINGS. 2023 8 1788 28 EFFECT OF CHRONIC ETHANOL CONSUMPTION IN RHESUS MACAQUES ON THE NUCLEUS ACCUMBENS CORE TRANSCRIPTOME. THE NUCLEUS ACCUMBENS CORE (NACC) HAS BEEN REPEATEDLY DEMONSTRATED TO BE A KEY COMPONENT OF THE CIRCUITRY ASSOCIATED WITH EXCESSIVE ETHANOL CONSUMPTION. PREVIOUS STUDIES HAVE ILLUSTRATED THAT IN A NONHUMAN PRIMATE (NHP) MODEL OF CHRONIC ETHANOL CONSUMPTION, THERE IS SIGNIFICANT EPIGENETIC REMODELING OF THE NACC. IN THE CURRENT STUDY, RNA-SEQ WAS USED TO EXAMINE GENOME-WIDE GENE EXPRESSION IN EIGHT EACH OF CONTROL, LOW/BINGE (LD*), AND HIGH/VERY HIGH (HD*) RHESUS MACAQUE DRINKERS. USING AN FDR < 0.05, ZERO GENES WERE SIGNIFICANTLY DIFFERENTIALLY EXPRESSED (DE) BETWEEN LD* AND CONTROLS, SIX GENES BETWEEN HD* AND LD*, AND 734 GENES BETWEEN HD* AND CONTROLS. FOCUSING ON HD* VERSUS CONTROL DE GENES, THE UPREGULATED GENES (N = 366) WERE ENRICHED IN GENES WITH ANNOTATIONS ASSOCIATED WITH SIGNAL RECOGNITION PARTICLE (SRP)-DEPENDENT CO-TRANSLATIONAL PROTEIN TARGETING TO MEMBRANE (FDR < 3 X 10(-59) ), STRUCTURAL CONSTITUENT OF RIBOSOME (FDR < 3 X 10(-47) ), AND RIBOSOMAL SUBUNIT (FDR < 5 X 10(-48) ). DOWNREGULATED GENES (N = 363) WERE ENRICHED IN ANNOTATIONS ASSOCIATED WITH BEHAVIOR (FDR < 2 X 10(-4) ), MEMBRANE ORGANIZATION (FDR < 1 X 10(-4) ), INORGANIC CATION TRANSMEMBRANE TRANSPORTER ACTIVITY (FDR < 2 X 10(-3) ), SYNAPSE PART (FDR < 4 X 10(-10) ), GLUTAMATERGIC SYNAPSE (FDR < 1 X 10(-6) ), AND GABAERGIC SYNAPSE (FDR < 6 X 10(-4) ). INGENUITY PATHWAY ANALYSIS (IPA) REVEALED THAT EIF2 SIGNALING AND MTOR PATHWAYS WERE SIGNIFICANTLY UPREGULATED IN HD* ANIMALS (FDR < 3 X 10(-33) AND <2 X 10(-16) , RESPECTIVELY). OVERALL, THE DATA SUPPORTED OUR WORKING HYPOTHESIS; EXCESSIVE CONSUMPTION WOULD BE ASSOCIATED WITH TRANSCRIPTIONAL DIFFERENCES IN GABA/GLUTAMATE-RELATED GENES. 2021 9 659 32 BLOOD GLOBAL DNA METHYLATION IS DECREASED IN NON-SEVERE CHRONIC OBSTRUCTIVE PULMONARY DISEASE (COPD) PATIENTS. BACKGROUND: ALTERATIONS IN GLOBAL DNA METHYLATION HAVE BEEN ASSOCIATED WITH OXIDATIVE STRESS (OS). SINCE CHRONIC OBSTRUCTIVE PULMONARY DISEASE (COPD) IS CHARACTERIZED BY INCREASED OXIDATIVE STRESS WE AIMED TO EVALUATE THE LEVELS OF GLOBAL DNA METHYLATION IN THIS PATIENT GROUP. METHODS: WE ASSESSED METHYLCYTOSINE (MCYT) LEVELS IN DNA FROM BLOOD COLLECTED IN 43 COPD PATIENTS (29 WITH MILD AND 14 WITH MODERATE DISEASE) AND 43 AGE- AND SEX-MATCHED HEALTHY CONTROLS. RESULTS: DNA METHYLATION WAS SIGNIFICANTLY LOWER IN COPD PATIENTS VS. CONTROLS (4.20 +/- 0.18% MCYT VS. 4.29 +/- 0.18% MCYT, P = 0.02). FURTHERMORE, DNA METHYLATION IN COPD PATIENTS WITH MODERATE DISEASE WAS SIGNIFICANTLY LOWER THAN THAT IN PATIENTS WITH MILD DISEASE (4.14 +/- 0.15% MCYT VS. 4.23 +/- 0.19% MCYT, P < 0.05). UNIVARIATE LOGISTIC REGRESSION ANALYSIS SHOWED THAT LOWER DNA METHYLATION LEVELS WERE ASSOCIATED WITH PRESENCE OF COPD (CRUDE OR = 0.06, 95% CI 0.00 TO 0.67, P = 0.023). THIS RELATIONSHIP REMAINED SIGNIFICANT AFTER ADJUSTING FOR SEVERAL CONFOUNDERS (OR 0.03, 95% CI 0.00 TO 0.67; P = 0.028). RECEIVER OPERATING CHARACTERISTICS (ROC) CURVE ANALYSIS DEMONSTRATED THE AREA UNDER THE CURVE OF MCYT WAS 0.646, WITH 46.6% SENSITIVITY AND 79.1% SPECIFICITY FOR PRESENCE OF COPD. CONCLUSIONS: THERE WERE NO SIGNIFICANT CORRELATIONS BETWEEN METHYLATION AND OS INDICES. THE PRESENCE AND SEVERITY OF COPD IS ASSOCIATED WITH PROGRESSIVELY LOWER DNA METHYLATION IN BLOOD. HOWEVER, THIS EPIGENETIC ALTERATION SEEMS INDEPENDENT OF OXIDATIVE STRESS. 2017 10 2423 31 EPIGENETIC SIGNATURES OF SMOKING IN FIVE BRAIN REGIONS. (1) BACKGROUND: EPIGENOME-WIDE ASSOCIATION STUDIES (EWAS) IN PERIPHERAL BLOOD HAVE REPEATEDLY FOUND ASSOCIATIONS BETWEEN TOBACCO SMOKING AND ABERRANT DNA METHYLATION (DNAM), BUT LITTLE IS KNOWN ABOUT DNAM SIGNATURES OF SMOKING IN THE HUMAN BRAIN, WHICH MAY CONTRIBUTE TO THE PATHOPHYSIOLOGY OF ADDICTIVE BEHAVIOR OBSERVED IN CHRONIC SMOKERS. (2) METHODS: WE INVESTIGATED THE SIMILARITY OF DNAM SIGNATURES IN MATCHED BLOOD AND POSTMORTEM BRAIN SAMPLES (N = 10). IN ADDITION, WE PERFORMED EWASS IN FIVE BRAIN REGIONS BELONGING TO THE NEUROCIRCUITRY OF ADDICTION: ANTERIOR CINGULATE CORTEX (ACC), BRODMANN AREA 9, CAUDATE NUCLEUS, PUTAMEN, AND VENTRAL STRIATUM (N = 38-72). (3) RESULTS: CG15925993 WITHIN THE LOC339975 GENE WAS EPIGENOME-WIDE SIGNIFICANT IN THE ACC. OF 16 IDENTIFIED DIFFERENTIALLY METHYLATED REGIONS, TWO (PRSS50 AND LINC00612/A2M-AS1) OVERLAPPED BETWEEN MULTIPLE BRAIN REGIONS. FUNCTIONAL ENRICHMENT WAS DETECTED FOR BIOLOGICAL PROCESSES RELATED TO NEURONAL DEVELOPMENT, INFLAMMATORY SIGNALING AND IMMUNE CELL MIGRATION. ADDITIONALLY, OUR RESULTS INDICATE THE ASSOCIATION OF THE WELL-KNOWN AHRR CPG SITE CG05575921 WITH SMOKING IN THE BRAIN. (4) CONCLUSION: THE PRESENT STUDY PROVIDES FURTHER EVIDENCE OF THE STRONG RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ABERRANT DNAM AND SMOKING. 2022 11 3579 31 IMPACT OF PATERNAL EDUCATION ON EPIGENETIC AGEING IN ADOLESCENCE AND MID-ADULTHOOD: A MULTI-COHORT STUDY IN THE USA AND MEXICO. BACKGROUND: BOTH PARENTAL AND NEIGHBOURHOOD SOCIO-ECONOMIC STATUS (SES) ARE LINKED TO POORER HEALTH INDEPENDENTLY OF PERSONAL SES MEASURES, BUT THE BIOLOGICAL MECHANISMS ARE UNCLEAR. OUR OBJECTIVE WAS TO EXAMINE THESE INFLUENCES VIA EPIGENETIC AGE ACCELERATION (EAA)-THE DISCREPANCY BETWEEN CHRONOLOGICAL AND EPIGENETIC AGES. METHODS: WE EXAMINED THREE USA-BASED [CORONARY ARTERY RISK DISEASE IN ADULTS (CARDIA) STUDY, FRAGILE FAMILIES AND CHILD WELLBEING STUDY (FFCWS) AND PROGRAMMING RESEARCH IN OBESITY, GROWTH, ENVIRONMENT AND SOCIAL STRESSORS (PROGRESS)] AND ONE MEXICO-BASED (PROJECT VIVA) COHORT. DNA METHYLATION WAS MEASURED USING ILLUMINA ARRAYS, PERSONAL/PARENTAL SES BY QUESTIONNAIRE AND NEIGHBOURHOOD DISADVANTAGE FROM GEOCODED ADDRESS. IN CARDIA, WE EXAMINED THE MOST STRONGLY ASSOCIATED PERSONAL, PARENTAL AND NEIGHBOURHOOD SES MEASURES WITH EAA (HANNUM'S METHOD) AT STUDY YEARS 15 AND 20 SEPARATELY AND COMBINED USING A GENERALIZED ESTIMATING EQUATION (GEE) AND COMPARED WITH OTHER EAA MEASURES (HORVATH'S EAA, PHENOAGE AND GRIMAGE CALCULATORS, AND DUNEDINPOAM). RESULTS: EAA WAS ASSOCIATED WITH PATERNAL EDUCATION IN CARDIA [GEES: BETASOME COLLEGE = -1.01 YEARS (-1.91, -0.11) AND BETA