1  2628 97 EPIGENOME-WIDE ASSOCIATION STUDY OF CHRONIC OBSTRUCTIVE PULMONARY DISEASE AND LUNG FUNCTION IN KOREANS. AIM: TO IDENTIFY DIFFERENTIALLY METHYLATED PROBES (DMPS) AND REGIONS (DMRS) IN RELATION TO CHRONIC OBSTRUCTIVE PULMONARY DISEASE (COPD) AND LUNG FUNCTION TRAITS. METHODS: WE PERFORMED AN EPIGENOME-WIDE ASSOCIATION STUDY OF COPD AND SPIROMETRIC PARAMETERS, INCLUDING FORCED EXPIRATORY VOLUME IN 1 S (FEV1), FORCED VITAL CAPACITY (FVC) AND FEV1/FVC, IN BLOOD DNA USING THE INFINIUM HUMANMETHYLATION450 (N = 100, A KOREAN COPD COHORT). RESULTS: WE FOUND ONE SIGNIFICANT DMP (CG03559389, DIP2C) AND 104 SIGNIFICANT DMRS AFTER MULTIPLE-TESTING CORRECTION. OF THESE, 34 DMRS MAPPED TO GENES DIFFERENTIAL EXPRESSED WITH RESPECT TO THE SAME TRAIT. FIVE OF THE GENES WERE ASSOCIATED WITH MORE THAN TWO TRAITS: CTU2, USP36, ZNF516, KLK10 AND CPT1B. CONCLUSION: WE IDENTIFIED NOVEL DIFFERENTIAL METHYLATION LOCI RELATED TO COPD AND LUNG FUNCTION IN BLOOD DNA IN KOREANS AND CONFIRMED PREVIOUS FINDINGS IN NON-ASIANS. EPIGENETIC MODIFICATION COULD CONTRIBUTE TO THE ETIOLOGY OF THESE PHENOTYPES.	2017	
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            
2  4690 41 NEWBORN DNA-METHYLATION, CHILDHOOD LUNG FUNCTION, AND THE RISKS OF ASTHMA AND COPD ACROSS THE LIFE COURSE. RATIONALE: WE AIMED TO IDENTIFY DIFFERENTIALLY METHYLATED REGIONS (DMRS) IN CORD BLOOD DNA ASSOCIATED WITH CHILDHOOD LUNG FUNCTION, ASTHMA AND CHRONIC OBSTRUCTIVE PULMONARY DISEASE (COPD) ACROSS THE LIFE COURSE. METHODS: WE META-ANALYSED EPIGENOME-WIDE DATA OF 1688 CHILDREN FROM FIVE COHORTS TO IDENTIFY CORD BLOOD DMRS AND THEIR ANNOTATED GENES, IN RELATION TO FORCED EXPIRATORY VOLUME IN 1 S (FEV(1)), FEV(1)/FORCED VITAL CAPACITY (FVC) RATIO AND FORCED EXPIRATORY FLOW AT 75% OF FVC AT AGES 7-13 YEARS. IDENTIFIED DMRS WERE EXPLORED FOR ASSOCIATIONS WITH CHILDHOOD ASTHMA, ADULT LUNG FUNCTION AND COPD, GENE EXPRESSION AND INVOLVEMENT IN BIOLOGICAL PROCESSES. RESULTS: WE IDENTIFIED 59 DMRS ASSOCIATED WITH CHILDHOOD LUNG FUNCTION, OF WHICH 18 WERE ASSOCIATED WITH CHILDHOOD ASTHMA AND NINE WITH COPD IN ADULTHOOD. GENES ANNOTATED TO THE TOP 10 IDENTIFIED DMRS WERE HOXA5, PAOX, LINC00602, ABCA7, PER3, CLCA1, VENTX, NUDT12, PTPRN2 AND TCL1A. DIFFERENTIAL GENE EXPRESSION IN BLOOD WAS OBSERVED FOR 32 DMRS IN CHILDHOOD AND 18 IN ADULTHOOD. GENES RELATED WITH 16 IDENTIFIED DMRS WERE ASSOCIATED WITH RESPIRATORY DEVELOPMENTAL OR PATHOGENIC PATHWAYS. INTERPRETATION: OUR FINDINGS SUGGEST THAT THE EPIGENETIC STATUS OF THE NEWBORN AFFECTS RESPIRATORY HEALTH AND DISEASE ACROSS THE LIFE COURSE.	2019	
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  
3   383 48 AN EPIGENOME-WIDE STUDY OF DNA METHYLATION PROFILES AND LUNG FUNCTION AMONG AMERICAN INDIANS IN THE STRONG HEART STUDY. BACKGROUND: EPIGENETIC MODIFICATIONS, INCLUDING DNA METHYLATION (DNAM), ARE OFTEN RELATED TO ENVIRONMENTAL EXPOSURES, AND ARE INCREASINGLY RECOGNIZED AS KEY PROCESSES IN THE PATHOGENESIS OF CHRONIC LUNG DISEASE. AMERICAN INDIAN COMMUNITIES HAVE A HIGH BURDEN OF LUNG DISEASE COMPARED TO THE NATIONAL AVERAGE. THE OBJECTIVE OF THIS STUDY WAS TO INVESTIGATE THE ASSOCIATION OF DNAM AND LUNG FUNCTION IN THE STRONG HEART STUDY (SHS). WE CONDUCTED A CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY OF AMERICAN INDIAN ADULTS, 45-74 YEARS OF AGE WHO PARTICIPATED IN THE SHS. DNAM WAS MEASURED USING THE ILLUMINA INFINIUM HUMAN METHYLATIONEPIC PLATFORM AT BASELINE (1989-1991). LUNG FUNCTION WAS MEASURED VIA SPIROMETRY, INCLUDING FORCED EXPIRATORY VOLUME IN 1 S (FEV1) AND FORCED VITAL CAPACITY (FVC), AT VISIT 2 (1993-1995). AIRFLOW LIMITATION WAS DEFINED AS FEV1 < 70% PREDICTED AND FEV1/FVC < 0.7, RESTRICTION WAS DEFINED AS FEV1/FVC > 0.7 AND FVC < 80% PREDICTED, AND NORMAL SPIROMETRY WAS DEFINED AS FEV1/FVC > 0.7, FEV1 > 70% PREDICTED, FVC > 80% PREDICTED. WE USED ELASTIC-NET MODELS TO SELECT RELEVANT CPGS FOR LUNG FUNCTION AND SPIROMETRY-DEFINED LUNG DISEASE. WE ALSO CONDUCTED BIOINFORMATIC ANALYSES TO EVALUATE THE BIOLOGICAL PLAUSIBILITY OF THE FINDINGS. RESULTS: AMONG 1677 PARTICIPANTS, 21.2% HAD SPIROMETRY-DEFINED AIRFLOW LIMITATION AND 13.6% HAD SPIROMETRY-DEFINED RESTRICTIVE PATTERN LUNG FUNCTION. ELASTIC-NET MODELS SELECTED 1118 DIFFERENTIALLY METHYLATED POSITIONS (DMPS) AS PREDICTORS OF AIRFLOW LIMITATION AND 1385 FOR RESTRICTIVE PATTERN LUNG FUNCTION. A TOTAL OF 12 DMPS OVERLAPPED BETWEEN AIRFLOW LIMITATION AND RESTRICTIVE PATTERN. EGFR, MAPK1 AND PRPF8 GENES WERE THE MOST CONNECTED NODES IN THE PROTEIN-PROTEIN INTERACTION NETWORK. MANY OF THE DMPS TARGETED GENES WITH BIOLOGICAL ROLES RELATED TO LUNG FUNCTION SUCH AS PROTEIN KINASES. CONCLUSION: WE FOUND MULTIPLE DIFFERENTIALLY METHYLATED CPG SITES ASSOCIATED WITH CHRONIC LUNG DISEASE. THESE SIGNALS COULD CONTRIBUTE TO BETTER UNDERSTAND MOLECULAR MECHANISMS INVOLVED IN LUNG DISEASE, AS ASSESSED SYSTEMICALLY, AS WELL AS TO IDENTIFY PATTERNS THAT COULD BE USEFUL FOR DIAGNOSTIC PURPOSES. FURTHER EXPERIMENTAL AND LONGITUDINAL STUDIES ARE NEEDED TO ASSESS WHETHER DNA METHYLATION HAS A CAUSAL ROLE IN LUNG DISEASE.	2022	
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         
4  4744 41 NOVEL INSIGHTS INTO THE GENETICS OF SMOKING BEHAVIOUR, LUNG FUNCTION, AND CHRONIC OBSTRUCTIVE PULMONARY DISEASE (UK BILEVE): A GENETIC ASSOCIATION STUDY IN UK BIOBANK. BACKGROUND: UNDERSTANDING THE GENETIC BASIS OF AIRFLOW OBSTRUCTION AND SMOKING BEHAVIOUR IS KEY TO DETERMINING THE PATHOPHYSIOLOGY OF CHRONIC OBSTRUCTIVE PULMONARY DISEASE (COPD). WE USED UK BIOBANK DATA TO STUDY THE GENETIC CAUSES OF SMOKING BEHAVIOUR AND LUNG HEALTH. METHODS: WE SAMPLED INDIVIDUALS OF EUROPEAN ANCESTRY FROM UK BIOBANK, FROM THE MIDDLE AND EXTREMES OF THE FORCED EXPIRATORY VOLUME IN 1 S (FEV1) DISTRIBUTION AMONG HEAVY SMOKERS (MEAN 35 PACK-YEARS) AND NEVER SMOKERS. WE DEVELOPED A CUSTOM ARRAY FOR UK BIOBANK TO PROVIDE OPTIMUM GENOME-WIDE COVERAGE OF COMMON AND LOW-FREQUENCY VARIANTS, DENSE COVERAGE OF GENOMIC REGIONS ALREADY IMPLICATED IN LUNG HEALTH AND DISEASE, AND TO ASSAY RARE CODING VARIANTS RELEVANT TO THE UK POPULATION. WE INVESTIGATED WHETHER THERE WERE SHARED GENETIC CAUSES BETWEEN DIFFERENT PHENOTYPES DEFINED BY EXTREMES OF FEV1. WE ALSO LOOKED FOR NOVEL VARIANTS ASSOCIATED WITH EXTREMES OF FEV1 AND SMOKING BEHAVIOUR AND ASSESSED REGIONS OF THE GENOME THAT HAD ALREADY SHOWN EVIDENCE FOR A ROLE IN LUNG HEALTH AND DISEASE. WE SET GENOME-WIDE SIGNIFICANCE AT P<5 X 10(-8). FINDINGS: UK BIOBANK PARTICIPANTS WERE RECRUITED FROM MARCH 15, 2006, TO JULY 7, 2010. SAMPLE SELECTION FOR THE UK BILEVE STUDY STARTED ON NOV 22, 2012, AND WAS COMPLETED ON DEC 20, 2012. WE SELECTED 50,008 UNIQUE SAMPLES: 10,002 INDIVIDUALS WITH LOW FEV1, 10,000 WITH AVERAGE FEV1, AND 5002 WITH HIGH FEV1 FROM EACH OF THE HEAVY SMOKER AND NEVER SMOKER GROUPS. WE NOTED A SUBSTANTIAL SHARING OF GENETIC CAUSES OF LOW FEV1 BETWEEN HEAVY SMOKERS AND NEVER SMOKERS (P=2.29 X 10(-16)) AND BETWEEN INDIVIDUALS WITH AND WITHOUT DOCTOR-DIAGNOSED ASTHMA (P=6.06 X 10(-11)). WE DISCOVERED SIX NOVEL GENOME-WIDE SIGNIFICANT SIGNALS OF ASSOCIATION WITH EXTREMES OF FEV1, INCLUDING SIGNALS AT FOUR NOVEL LOCI (KANSL1, TSEN54, TET2, AND RBM19/TBX5) AND INDEPENDENT SIGNALS AT TWO PREVIOUSLY REPORTED LOCI (NPNT AND HLA-DQB1/HLA-DQA2). THESE VARIANTS ALSO SHOWED ASSOCIATION WITH COPD, INCLUDING IN INDIVIDUALS WITH NO HISTORY OF SMOKING. THE NUMBER OF COPIES OF A 150 KB REGION CONTAINING THE 5' END OF KANSL1, A GENE THAT IS IMPORTANT FOR EPIGENETIC GENE REGULATION, WAS ASSOCIATED WITH EXTREMES OF FEV1. WE ALSO DISCOVERED FIVE NEW GENOME-WIDE SIGNIFICANT SIGNALS FOR SMOKING BEHAVIOUR, INCLUDING A VARIANT IN NCAM1 (CHROMOSOME 11) AND A VARIANT ON CHROMOSOME 2 (BETWEEN TEX41 AND PABPC1P2) THAT HAS A TRANS EFFECT ON EXPRESSION OF NCAM1 IN BRAIN TISSUE. INTERPRETATION: BY SAMPLING FROM THE EXTREMES OF THE LUNG FUNCTION DISTRIBUTION IN UK BIOBANK, WE IDENTIFIED NOVEL GENETIC CAUSES OF LUNG FUNCTION AND SMOKING BEHAVIOUR. THESE RESULTS PROVIDE NEW INSIGHT INTO THE SPECIFIC MECHANISMS UNDERLYING AIRFLOW OBSTRUCTION, COPD, AND TOBACCO ADDICTION, AND SHOW SUBSTANTIAL SHARED GENETIC ARCHITECTURE UNDERLYING AIRFLOW OBSTRUCTION ACROSS INDIVIDUALS, IRRESPECTIVE OF SMOKING BEHAVIOUR AND OTHER AIRWAY DISEASE. FUNDING: MEDICAL RESEARCH COUNCIL.	2015	

5  3993 27 LONGITUDINAL FOLLOW-UP OF THE ASTHMA STATUS IN A FRENCH-CANADIAN COHORT. ASTHMA AFFECTS 340 MILLION PEOPLE WORLDWIDE AND VARIES IN TIME. TWENTY YEARS AGO, IN CANADA, THE SAGUENAY-LAC-SAINT-JEAN ASTHMA FAMILY COHORT WAS CREATED TO STUDY THE GENETIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL COMPONENTS OF ASTHMA. THIS STUDY IS A FOLLOW-UP OF 125 PARTICIPANTS OF THIS COHORT TO EXPLORE THE APPEARANCE, PERSISTENCE, AND PROGRESSION OF ASTHMA OVER 10-20 YEARS. PARTICIPANTS ANSWERED A CLINICAL STANDARDIZED QUESTIONNAIRE. LUNG FUNCTION WAS ASSESSED (FORCED EXPIRATORY VOLUME IN 1 S, FORCED VITAL CAPACITY, BRONCHIAL REVERSIBILITY, AND METHACHOLINE BRONCHOPROVOCATION), SKIN ALLERGY TESTING WAS PERFORMED, BLOOD SAMPLES WERE OBTAINED (IMMUNOGLOBULIN E, WHITE BLOOD CELL COUNTS) AND PHENOTYPES WERE COMPARED BETWEEN RECRUITMENT AND FOLLOW-UP. FROM THE PARTICIPANTS WITHOUT ASTHMA AT RECRUITMENT, 12% DEVELOPED A PHENOTYPE OF ADULT-ONSET ASTHMA WITH THE PRESENCE OF RISK FACTORS, SUCH AS ATOPY, HIGH BODY MASS INDEX, AND EXPOSURE TO SMOKING. A DECREASE OF PC(20) VALUES IN THIS GROUP WAS OBSERVED AND A DECREASE IN THE FEV(1)/FVC RATIO IN ALL GROUPS. ALSO, 7% OF INDIVIDUALS WITH ASTHMA AT RECRUITMENT DEVELOPED CHRONIC OBSTRUCTIVE PULMONARY DISEASE, PRESENTING RISK FACTORS AT RECRUITMENT, SUCH AS MODERATE-TO-SEVERE BRONCHIAL HYPERRESPONSIVENESS, EXPOSURE TO SMOKING, AND ASTHMA. THIS STUDY ALLOWED A BETTER INTERPRETATION OF THE EVOLUTION OF ASTHMA. FINE PHENOTYPIC CHARACTERIZATION IS THE FIRST STEP FOR MEANINGFUL GENETIC AND EPIGENETIC STUDIES.	2022	
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            
6  1550 35 DNA METHYLATION IS ASSOCIATED WITH AIRFLOW OBSTRUCTION IN PATIENTS LIVING WITH HIV. INTRODUCTION: PEOPLE LIVING WITH HIV (PLWH) SUFFER FROM AGE-RELATED COMORBIDITIES SUCH AS COPD. THE PROCESSES RESPONSIBLE FOR REDUCED LUNG FUNCTION IN PLWH ARE LARGELY UNKNOWN. WE PERFORMED AN EPIGENOME-WIDE ASSOCIATION STUDY TO INVESTIGATE WHETHER BLOOD DNA METHYLATION IS ASSOCIATED WITH IMPAIRED LUNG FUNCTION IN PLWH. METHODS: USING BLOOD DNA METHYLATION PROFILES FROM 161 PLWH, WE TESTED THE EFFECT OF METHYLATION ON FEV(1), FEV(1)/FVC RATIO AND FEV(1) DECLINE OVER A MEDIAN OF 5 YEARS. WE EVALUATED THE GLOBAL METHYLATION OF PLWH WITH AIRFLOW OBSTRUCTION BY TESTING THE DIFFERENTIAL METHYLATION OF TRANSPOSABLE ELEMENTS ALU AND LINE-1, A WELL-DESCRIBED MARKER OF EPIGENETIC AGEING. RESULTS: AIRFLOW OBSTRUCTION AS DEFINED BY A FEV(1)/FVC<0.70 WAS ASSOCIATED WITH 1393 DIFFERENTIALLY METHYLATED POSITIONS (DMPS), WHILE 4676 WERE ASSOCIATED WITH AIRFLOW OBSTRUCTION BASED ON THE FEV(1)/FVC<LOWER LIMIT OF NORMAL. THESE DMPS WERE ENRICHED FOR BIOLOGICAL PATHWAYS ASSOCIATED WITH CHRONIC VIRAL INFECTIONS. THE AIRFLOW OBSTRUCTION GROUP WAS GLOBALLY HYPOMETHYLATED COMPARED WITH THOSE WITHOUT AIRFLOW OBSTRUCTION. 103 AND 7112 DMPS WERE ASSOCIATED WITH FEV(1) AND FEV(1)/FVC, RESPECTIVELY. NO POSITIONS WERE ASSOCIATED WITH FEV(1) DECLINE. CONCLUSION: A LARGE NUMBER OF DMPS WERE ASSOCIATED WITH AIRFLOW OBSTRUCTION AND LUNG FUNCTION IN A UNIQUE COHORT OF PLWH. AIRFLOW OBSTRUCTION IN EVEN RELATIVELY YOUNG PLWH IS ASSOCIATED WITH GLOBAL HYPOMETHYLATION, SUGGESTING ADVANCED EPIGENETIC AGEING COMPARED WITH THOSE WITH NORMAL LUNG FUNCTION. THE DISTURBANCE OF THE EPIGENETIC REGULATION OF KEY GENES NOT PREVIOUSLY IDENTIFIED IN NON-HIV COPD COHORTS COULD EXPLAIN THE UNIQUE RISK OF COPD IN PLWH.	2021	
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        
7  6312 26 THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CEREBRAL SMALL VESSEL DISEASE, HIPPOCAMPAL VOLUME AND COGNITIVE FUNCTIONING IN PATIENTS WITH COPD: AN MRI STUDY. THE NEURAL CORRELATES OF COGNITIVE IMPAIRMENT IN CHRONIC OBSTRUCTIVE PULMONARY DISEASE (COPD) ARE NOT YET UNDERSTOOD. STRUCTURAL BRAIN ABNORMALITIES COULD POSSIBLY BE ASSOCIATED WITH THE PRESENCE OF COGNITIVE IMPAIRMENT THROUGH CIGARETTE SMOKE, INFLAMMATION, VASCULAR DISEASE, OR HYPOXEMIA IN THESE PATIENTS. THIS STUDY AIMED TO INVESTIGATE WHETHER MACROSTRUCTURAL BRAIN MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING (MRI) FEATURES OF CEREBRAL SMALL VESSEL DISEASE (SVD) AND HIPPOCAMPAL VOLUME (HCV) ARE RELATED TO COGNITIVE PERFORMANCE IN PATIENTS WITH COPD. A SUBGROUP OF COGNITIVELY HIGH AND LOW-PERFORMING COPD PATIENTS OF THE COGNITIVE-PD STUDY, UNDERWENT A BRAIN 3T MRI. SVD AS A MARKER OF VASCULAR DAMAGE WAS ASSESSED USING QUALITATIVE VISUAL RATING SCALES. HCV AS A MARKER OF NEURODEGENERATION WAS ASSESSED USING THE LEARNING EMBEDDING FOR ATLAS PROPAGATION (LEAP) METHOD. FEATURES OF SVD AND HCV WERE COMPARED BETWEEN COGNITIVELY HIGH AND LOW-PERFORMING INDIVIDUALS USING MANN WHITNEY U TESTS AND INDEPENDENT SAMPLES T-TESTS, RESPECTIVELY. NO GROUP DIFFERENCES WERE REPORTED BETWEEN 25 HIGH-PERFORMING (MEAN AGE 60.3 (STANDARD DEVIATION [SD] 9.7) YEARS; 40.0% MEN; FORCED EXPIRATORY VOLUME IN FIRST SECOND [FEV(1)] 50.1% PREDICTED) AND 30 LOW-PERFORMING PATIENTS WITH COPD (MEAN AGE 60.6 (SD 6.8) YEARS; 53.3% MEN; FEV(1) 55.6% PREDICTED) REGARDING DEMOGRAPHICS, CLINICAL CHARACTERISTICS, COMORBIDITIES AND THE PRESENCE OF THE SVD FEATURES AND HCV. TO CONCLUDE, THE CURRENT STUDY DOES NOT PROVIDE EVIDENCE FOR A RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CEREBRAL SVD AND HCV AND COGNITIVE FUNCTIONING IN PATIENTS WITH COPD. ADDITIONAL STUDIES WILL BE NEEDED TO DETERMINE OTHER POSSIBLE MECHANISMS OF COGNITIVE IMPAIRMENT IN PATIENTS WITH COPD, INCLUDING MICROSTRUCTURAL BRAIN CHANGES AND INFLAMMATORY-, HORMONAL-, METABOLIC- AND (EPI)GENETIC FACTORS.	2017	
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      
8  6314 29 THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE EPIGENETIC AGING BIOMARKER "GRIMAGE" AND LUNG FUNCTION IN BOTH THE AIRWAY AND BLOOD OF PEOPLE LIVING WITH HIV: AN OBSERVATIONAL COHORT STUDY. BACKGROUND: AGE-RELATED COMORBIDITIES SUCH AS CHRONIC OBSTRUCTIVE PULMONARY DISEASE (COPD) ARE COMMON IN PEOPLE LIVING WITH HUMAN IMMUNODEFICIENCY VIRUS (PLWH). WE INVESTIGATED THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN COPD AND THE EPIGENETIC AGE OF THE AIRWAY EPITHELIUM AND PERIPHERAL BLOOD OF PLWH. METHODS: AIRWAY EPITHELIAL BRUSHINGS FROM 34 PLWH ENROLLED IN THE ST. PAUL'S HOSPITAL HIV BRONCHOSCOPY COHORT AND PERIPHERAL BLOOD FROM 378 PLWH ENROLLED IN THE STRATEGIC TIMING OF ANTIRETROVIRAL TREATMENT (START) STUDY WERE PROFILED FOR DNA METHYLATION. THE DNA METHYLATION BIOMARKER OF AGE AND HEALTHSPAN, GRIMAGE, WAS CALCULATED IN BOTH TISSUE COMPARTMENTS. WE TESTED THE ASSOCIATION OF GRIMAGE WITH COPD IN THE AIRWAY EPITHELIUM AND AIRFLOW OBSTRUCTION AS DEFINED BY AN FEV(1)/FVC<0.70, AND FEV(1) DECLINE OVER 6 YEARS IN BLOOD. FINDINGS: THE AIRWAY EPITHELIUM OF PLWH WITH COPD WAS ASSOCIATED WITH GREATER GRIMAGE RESIDUALS COMPARED TO PLWH WITHOUT COPD (BETA=3.18, 95%CI=1.06-5.31, P=0.005). IN BLOOD, FEV(1)/FVC<LLN WAS ASSOCIATED WITH GREATER GRIMAGE RESIDUALS (BETA=1.74, 95%CI=0.37-3.24, P=0.019). FEV(1) DECLINE WAS INVERSELY CORRELATED WITH GRIMAGE RESIDUALS IN BLOOD (R=-0.13, P=0.012). PLWH WHO HAD NORMAL LUNG FUNCTION BUT WHO SUBSEQUENTLY DEVELOPED AN FEV(1)/FVC<0.70 OVER THE COURSE OF 6 YEARS HAD HIGHER GRIMAGE RESIDUALS AT BASELINE (BETA=2.33, 95%CI=0.23-4.44, P=0.031). INTERPRETATION: GRIMAGE MAY REFLECT LUNG AND SYSTEMIC EPIGENETIC CHANGES THAT OCCUR WITH ADVANCED AIRFLOW OBSTRUCTION AND MAY HELP TO IDENTIFY PLWH WITH A HIGHER RISK OF DEVELOPING COPD. FUNDING: CANADIAN INSTITUTES OF HEALTH RESEARCH AND THE BRITISH COLUMBIA LUNG ASSOCIATION. THE START SUBSTUDY WAS FUNDED BY NIH GRANTS: UM1-AI068641, UM1-AI120197, AND RO1HL096453.	2022	
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 
9   178 30 ACCELERATED EPIGENETIC AGING AS A RISK FACTOR FOR CHRONIC OBSTRUCTIVE PULMONARY DISEASE AND DECREASED LUNG FUNCTION IN TWO PROSPECTIVE COHORT STUDIES. CHRONIC OBSTRUCTIVE PULMONARY DISEASE (COPD) IS A FREQUENT DIAGNOSIS IN OLDER INDIVIDUALS AND CONTRIBUTOR TO GLOBAL MORBIDITY AND MORTALITY. GIVEN THE LINK BETWEEN LUNG DISEASE AND AGING, WE NEED TO UNDERSTAND HOW MOLECULAR INDICATORS OF AGING RELATE TO LUNG FUNCTION AND DISEASE. USING DATA FROM THE POPULATION-BASED KORA (COOPERATIVE HEALTH RESEARCH IN THE REGION OF AUGSBURG) SURVEYS, WE ASSOCIATED BASELINE EPIGENETIC (DNA METHYLATION) AGE ACCELERATION WITH INCIDENT COPD AND LUNG FUNCTION. MODELS WERE ADJUSTED FOR AGE, SEX, SMOKING, HEIGHT, WEIGHT, AND BASELINE LUNG DISEASE AS APPROPRIATE. ASSOCIATIONS WERE REPLICATED IN THE NORMATIVE AGING STUDY. OF 770 KORA PARTICIPANTS, 131 DEVELOPED INCIDENT COPD OVER 7 YEARS. BASELINE ACCELERATED EPIGENETIC AGING WAS SIGNIFICANTLY ASSOCIATED WITH INCIDENT COPD. THE CHANGE IN AGE ACCELERATION (FOLLOW-UP - BASELINE) WAS MORE STRONGLY ASSOCIATED WITH COPD THAN BASELINE AGING ALONE. THE ASSOCIATION BETWEEN THE CHANGE IN AGE ACCELERATION BETWEEN BASELINE AND FOLLOW-UP AND INCIDENT COPD REPLICATED IN THE NORMATIVE AGING STUDY. ASSOCIATIONS WITH SPIROMETRIC LUNG FUNCTION PARAMETERS WERE WEAKER THAN THOSE WITH COPD, BUT A META-ANALYSIS OF BOTH COHORTS PROVIDE SUGGESTIVE EVIDENCE OF ASSOCIATIONS. ACCELERATED EPIGENETIC AGING, BOTH BASELINE MEASURES AND CHANGES OVER TIME, MAY BE A RISK FACTOR FOR COPD AND REDUCED LUNG FUNCTION.	2020	
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  
10  3063 52 GENOME-WIDE DNA METHYLATION AND LONG-TERM AMBIENT AIR POLLUTION EXPOSURE IN KOREAN ADULTS. BACKGROUND: AMBIENT AIR POLLUTION IS ASSOCIATED WITH NUMEROUS ADVERSE HEALTH OUTCOMES, BUT THE UNDERLYING MECHANISMS ARE NOT WELL UNDERSTOOD; EPIGENETIC EFFECTS INCLUDING ALTERED DNA METHYLATION COULD PLAY A ROLE. TO EVALUATE ASSOCIATIONS OF LONG-TERM AIR POLLUTION EXPOSURE WITH DNA METHYLATION IN BLOOD, WE CONDUCTED AN EPIGENOME-WIDE ASSOCIATION STUDY IN A KOREAN CHRONIC OBSTRUCTIVE PULMONARY DISEASE COHORT (N = 100 INCLUDING 60 CASES) USING ILLUMINA'S INFINIUM HUMANMETHYLATION450K BEADCHIP. ANNUAL AVERAGE CONCENTRATIONS OF PARTICULATE MATTER </= 10 MUM IN DIAMETER (PM(10)) AND NITROGEN DIOXIDE (NO(2)) WERE ESTIMATED AT PARTICIPANTS' RESIDENTIAL ADDRESSES USING EXPOSURE PREDICTION MODELS. WE USED ROBUST LINEAR REGRESSION TO IDENTIFY DIFFERENTIALLY METHYLATED PROBES (DMPS) AND TWO DIFFERENT APPROACHES, DMRCATE AND COMB-P, TO IDENTIFY DIFFERENTIALLY METHYLATED REGIONS (DMRS). RESULTS: AFTER MULTIPLE TESTING CORRECTION (FALSE DISCOVERY RATE < 0.05), THERE WERE 12 DMPS AND 27 DMRS ASSOCIATED WITH PM(10) AND 45 DMPS AND 57 DMRS RELATED TO NO(2). DMP CG06992688 (OTUB2) AND SEVERAL DMRS WERE ASSOCIATED WITH BOTH EXPOSURES. ELEVEN DMPS IN RELATION TO NO(2) CONFIRMED PREVIOUS FINDINGS IN EUROPEANS; THE REMAINDER WERE NOVEL. METHYLATION LEVELS OF 39 DMPS WERE ASSOCIATED WITH EXPRESSION LEVELS OF NEARBY GENES IN A SEPARATE DATASET OF 3075 INDIVIDUALS. ENRICHED NETWORKS WERE RELATED TO OUTCOMES ASSOCIATED WITH AIR POLLUTION INCLUDING CARDIOVASCULAR AND RESPIRATORY DISEASES AS WELL AS INFLAMMATORY AND IMMUNE RESPONSES. CONCLUSIONS: THIS STUDY PROVIDES EVIDENCE THAT LONG-TERM AMBIENT AIR POLLUTION EXPOSURE IMPACTS DNA METHYLATION. THE DIFFERENTIAL METHYLATION SIGNALS CAN SERVE AS POTENTIAL AIR POLLUTION BIOMARKERS. THESE RESULTS MAY HELP BETTER UNDERSTAND THE INFLUENCES OF AMBIENT AIR POLLUTION ON HUMAN HEALTH.	2019	
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          
11  1552 34 DNA METHYLATION IS PREDICTIVE OF MORTALITY IN CURRENT AND FORMER SMOKERS. RATIONALE: SMOKING RESULTS IN AT LEAST A DECADE LOWER LIFE EXPECTANCY. MORTALITY AMONG CURRENT SMOKERS IS TWO TO THREE TIMES AS HIGH AS NEVER SMOKERS. DNA METHYLATION IS AN EPIGENETIC MODIFICATION OF THE HUMAN GENOME THAT HAS BEEN ASSOCIATED WITH BOTH CIGARETTE SMOKING AND MORTALITY.OBJECTIVES: WE SOUGHT TO IDENTIFY DNA METHYLATION MARKS IN BLOOD THAT ARE PREDICTIVE OF MORTALITY IN A SUBSET OF THE COPDGENE (GENETIC EPIDEMIOLOGY OF COPD) STUDY, REPRESENTING 101 DEATHS AMONG 667 CURRENT AND FORMER SMOKERS.METHODS: WE ASSAYED GENOME-WIDE DNA METHYLATION IN NON-HISPANIC WHITE SMOKERS WITH AND WITHOUT CHRONIC OBSTRUCTIVE PULMONARY DISEASE (COPD) USING BLOOD SAMPLES FROM THE COPDGENE ENROLLMENT VISIT. WE TESTED WHETHER DNA METHYLATION WAS ASSOCIATED WITH MORTALITY IN MODELS ADJUSTED FOR COPD STATUS, AGE, SEX, CURRENT SMOKING STATUS, AND PACK-YEARS OF CIGARETTE SMOKING. REPLICATION WAS PERFORMED IN A SUBSET OF 231 INDIVIDUALS FROM THE ECLIPSE (EVALUATION OF COPD LONGITUDINALLY TO IDENTIFY PREDICTIVE SURROGATE ENDPOINTS) STUDY.MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: WE IDENTIFIED SEVEN CPG SITES ASSOCIATED WITH MORTALITY (FALSE DISCOVERY RATE < 20%) THAT REPLICATED IN THE ECLIPSE COHORT (P < 0.05). NONE OF THESE MARKS WERE ASSOCIATED WITH LONGITUDINAL LUNG FUNCTION DECLINE IN SURVIVORS, SMOKING HISTORY, OR CURRENT SMOKING STATUS. HOWEVER, DIFFERENTIAL METHYLATION OF TWO REPLICATED PIK3CD (PHOSPHATIDYLINOSITOL-4,5-BISPHOSPHATE 3-KINASE CATALYTIC SUBUNIT DELTA) SITES WERE ASSOCIATED WITH LUNG FUNCTION AT ENROLLMENT (P < 0.05). WE ALSO OBSERVED ASSOCIATIONS BETWEEN DNA METHYLATION AND GENE EXPRESSION FOR THE PIK3CD SITES.CONCLUSIONS: THIS STUDY IS THE FIRST TO IDENTIFY VARIABLE DNA METHYLATION ASSOCIATED WITH ALL-CAUSE MORTALITY IN SMOKERS WITH AND WITHOUT COPD. EVALUATING PREDICTIVE EPIGENOMIC MARKS OF SMOKERS IN PERIPHERAL BLOOD MAY ALLOW FOR TARGETED RISK STRATIFICATION AND AID IN DELIVERY OF FUTURE TAILORED THERAPEUTIC INTERVENTIONS.	2020	
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 
12  1633 30 DO EPIGENETIC EVENTS TAKE PLACE IN THE VASTUS LATERALIS OF PATIENTS WITH MILD CHRONIC OBSTRUCTIVE PULMONARY DISEASE? MUSCLE DYSFUNCTION IS A MAJOR COMORBIDITY IN CHRONIC OBSTRUCTIVE PULMONARY DISEASE (COPD). SEVERAL BIOLOGICAL MECHANISMS INCLUDING EPIGENETIC EVENTS REGULATE MUSCLE MASS AND FUNCTION IN MODELS OF MUSCLE ATROPHY. INVESTIGATIONS CONDUCTED SO FAR HAVE FOCUSED ON THE ELUCIDATION OF BIOLOGICAL MECHANISMS INVOLVED IN MUSCLE DYSFUNCTION IN ADVANCED COPD. WE ASSESSED WHETHER THE EPIGENETIC PROFILE MAY BE ALTERED IN THE VASTUS LATERALIS OF PATIENTS WITH MILD COPD, NORMAL BODY COMPOSITION, AND MILDLY IMPAIRED MUSCLE FUNCTION AND EXERCISE CAPACITY. IN VASTUS LATERALIS (VL) OF MILD COPD PATIENTS WITH WELL-PRESERVED BODY COMPOSITION AND IN HEALTHY AGE-MATCHED CONTROLS, EXPRESSION OF DNA METHYLATION, MUSCLE-ENRICHED MICRORNAS, HISTONE ACETYLTRANSFERASES (HTAS) AND DEACETYLASES (HDACS), PROTEIN ACETYLATION, SMALL UBIQUITIN-RELATED MODIFIER (SUMO) LIGASES, AND MUSCLE STRUCTURE WERE EXPLORED. ALL SUBJECTS WERE CLINICALLY EVALUATED. COMPARED TO HEALTHY CONTROLS, IN THE VL OF MILD COPD PATIENTS, MUSCLE FUNCTION AND EXERCISE CAPACITY WERE MODERATELY REDUCED, DNA METHYLATION LEVELS DID NOT DIFFER, MIR-1 EXPRESSION LEVELS WERE INCREASED AND POSITIVELY CORRELATED WITH BOTH FORCED EXPIRATORY VOLUME IN ONE SECOND (FEV1) AND QUADRICEPS FORCE, HDAC4 PROTEIN LEVELS WERE INCREASED, AND MUSCLE FIBER TYPES AND SIZES WERE NOT DIFFERENT. MODERATE SKELETAL MUSCLE DYSFUNCTION IS A RELEVANT FEATURE IN PATIENTS WITH MILD COPD AND PRESERVED BODY COMPOSITION. SEVERAL EPIGENETIC EVENTS ARE DIFFERENTIALLY EXPRESSED IN THE LIMB MUSCLES OF THESE PATIENTS, PROBABLY AS AN ATTEMPT TO COUNTERBALANCE THE UNDERLYING MECHANISMS THAT ALTER MUSCLE FUNCTION AND MASS. THE STUDY OF PATIENTS AT EARLY STAGES OF THEIR DISEASE IS OF INTEREST AS THEY ARE A TARGET FOR TIMELY THERAPEUTIC INTERVENTIONS THAT MAY SLOW DOWN THE COURSE OF THE DISEASE AND PREVENT THE DELETERIOUS EFFECTS OF MAJOR COMORBIDITIES.	2014	
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  
13  2018 35 EPIGENETIC CHANGE (GATA-4 GENE METHYLATION) IS ASSOCIATED WITH HEALTH STATUS IN CHRONIC OBSTRUCTIVE PULMONARY DISEASE. GENE METHYLATION IS AN EPIGENETIC CHANGE THAT INVOLVES A HERITABLE MODIFICATION OF CHROMATIN STRUCTURE THAT ALTERS GENE EXPRESSION WITHOUT A CHANGE IN DNA SEQUENCE. IT HAS PREVIOUSLY BEEN SHOWN THAT METHYLATION OF THE GATA-4 GENE PROMOTER REGION IN SPUTUM DNA IS ASSOCIATED WITH LOW LUNG FUNCTION AND INCREASED ODDS OF CHRONIC OBSTRUCTIVE PULMONARY DISEASE (COPD) AMONG SMOKERS. GIVEN THESE FINDINGS, WE HYPOTHESIZED THAT GATA-4 GENE METHYLATION IN SPUTUM DNA WOULD BE ASSOCIATED WITH LOW HEALTH STATUS, AS MEASURED BY THE ST. GEORGE'S RESPIRATORY QUESTIONNAIRE (SGRQ), IN SUBJECTS WITH COPD. SELF-REPORTED SGRQ, SPIROMETRY, AND INDUCED SPUTUM SAMPLES WERE OBTAINED FROM 168 COPD SUBJECTS FROM THE LOVELACE SMOKERS COHORT. GATA-4 GENE METHYLATION WAS EVALUATED IN SPUTUM DNA USING NESTED METHYLATION-SPECIFIC POLYMERASE CHAIN REACTION (PCR) ASSAYS. USING GENERAL LINEAR MODEL WITH POISSON REGRESSION, WE FOUND THAT GATA-4 GENE METHYLATION WAS SIGNIFICANTLY ASSOCIATED WITH OVERALL LOWER SGRQ HEALTH STATUS (PARAMETER ESTIMATE = .296, P < .001). THIS FINDING REMAINED SIGNIFICANT EVEN AFTER CONTROLLING FOR AGE, LUNG FUNCTION, AND OTHER COVARIATES. IN AN ADDITIONAL ANALYSIS USING LOGISTIC REGRESSION AND COMPARING EXTREME TERTILES OF OVERALL SGRQ SCORE, WE CONFIRMED THAT GATA-4 GENE METHYLATION WAS ASSOCIATED WITH A 3-FOLD INCREASE IN RISK OF POOR HEALTH STATUS (OR 2.95 AND P = .028). THE UNEXPLORED LINKS BETWEEN EPIGENETIC CHANGES AND PSYCHOSOCIAL FACTORS SUCH AS HEALTH STATUS ARE CRITICAL GAPS IN THE LITERATURE. THIS STUDY IS THE FIRST TO SUGGEST THAT AIRWAY GATA-4 GENE METHYLATION STATUS MAY INDEPENDENTLY PREDICT HEALTH STATUS IN INDIVIDUALS WITH COPD.	2015	
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    
14  5422 31 REGULATION OF LUNG EPITHELIAL CELL SENESCENCE IN SMOKING-INDUCED COPD/EMPHYSEMA BY MICROR-125A-5P VIA SP1 MEDIATION OF SIRT1/HIF-1A. CHRONIC OBSTRUCTIVE PULMONARY DISEASE (COPD) AFFECTS THE HEALTH OF MORE THAN 300 MILLION PEOPLE WORLDWIDE; AT PRESENT, THERE IS NO EFFECTIVE DRUG TO TREAT COPD. SMOKING IS THE MOST IMPORTANT RISK FACTOR, BUT THE MOLECULAR MECHANISM BY WHICH SMOKING CAUSES THE DISEASE IS UNCLEAR. THE SENESCENCE OF LUNG EPITHELIAL CELLS IS RELATED TO DEVELOPMENT OF COPD. REGULATION OF MIRNAS IS THE MAIN EPIGENETIC MECHANISM RELATED TO AGING. BETA-GALACTOSE STAINING SHOWED THAT THE LUNG TISSUES OF SMOKERS HAVE A HIGHER DEGREE OF CELLULAR SENESCENCE, AND THE EXPRESSION OF MIR-125A-5P IS HIGH. THIS EFFECT IS OBVIOUS FOR SMOKERS WITH COPD/EMPHYSEMA, AND THERE IS A NEGATIVE CORRELATION BETWEEN MIR-125A-5P LEVELS AND VALUES FOR FORCED EXPIRATORY VOLUME IN ONE SECOND (FEV1)/FORCED VITAL CAPACITY (FVC). AFTER BALB/C MICE WERE CHRONICALLY EXPOSED TO VARIOUS CONCENTRATIONS OF CIGARETTE SMOKE (CS), PLETHYSMOGRAPHY SHOWED THAT LUNG FUNCTION WAS IMPAIRED, LUNG TISSUE SENESCENCE WAS INCREASED, AND THE SENESCENCE-ASSOCIATED SECRETORY PHENOTYPE (SASP) IN BRONCHOALVEOLAR LAVAGE FLUID WAS INCREASED. FOR MOUSE LUNG EPITHELIAL (MLE)-12 CELLS TREATED WITH CIGARETTE SMOKE EXTRACT (CSE), SP1 AND SIRT1 LEVELS WERE LOW, HIF-1ALPHA ACETYLATION LEVELS WERE HIGH, AND CELL SENESCENCE AND SECRETION OF SASP FACTORS WERE ELEVATED. DOWN-REGULATION OF MIR-125A-5P OR UP-REGULATION OF SP1 REVERSED THESE EFFECTS. IN ADDITION, COMPARED WITH MICE EXPOSED TO CS, KNOCKDOWN OF MIR-125A-5P REDUCED LUNG EPITHELIAL CELL SENESCENCE AND COPD/EMPHYSEMA. THEREFORE, IN SMOKING-INDUCED COPD, ELEVATED MIR-125A-5P PARTICIPATES IN THE SENESCENCE OF LUNG EPITHELIAL CELLS THROUGH SP1/SIRT1/HIF-1ALPHA. THESE FINDINGS PROVIDE EVIDENCE RELATED TO THE PATHOGENESIS OF COPD/EMPHYSEMA CAUSED BY CHRONIC SMOKING.	2022	
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     
15  6691 33 VARIABLE DNA METHYLATION IS ASSOCIATED WITH CHRONIC OBSTRUCTIVE PULMONARY DISEASE AND LUNG FUNCTION. RATIONALE: CHRONIC OBSTRUCTIVE PULMONARY DISEASE (COPD) IS ASSOCIATED WITH LOCAL (LUNG) AND SYSTEMIC (BLOOD) INFLAMMATION AND MANIFESTATIONS. DNA METHYLATION IS AN IMPORTANT REGULATOR OF GENE TRANSCRIPTION, AND GLOBAL AND SPECIFIC GENE METHYLATION MARKS MAY VARY WITH CIGARETTE SMOKE EXPOSURE. OBJECTIVES: TO PERFORM A COMPREHENSIVE ASSESSMENT OF METHYLATION MARKS IN DNA FROM SUBJECTS WELL PHENOTYPED FOR NONNEOPLASTIC LUNG DISEASE. METHODS: WE CONDUCTED ARRAY-BASED METHYLATION SCREENS, USING A TEST-REPLICATION APPROACH, IN TWO FAMILY-BASED COHORTS (N = 1,085 AND 369 SUBJECTS). MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: WE OBSERVED 349 CPG SITES SIGNIFICANTLY ASSOCIATED WITH THE PRESENCE AND SEVERITY OF COPD IN BOTH COHORTS. SEVENTY PERCENT OF THE ASSOCIATED CPG SITES WERE OUTSIDE OF CPG ISLANDS, WITH THE MAJORITY OF CPG SITES RELATIVELY HYPOMETHYLATED. GENE ONTOLOGY ANALYSIS BASED ON THESE 349 CPGS (330 GENES) SUGGESTED THE INVOLVEMENT OF A NUMBER OF GENES RESPONSIBLE FOR IMMUNE AND INFLAMMATORY SYSTEM PATHWAYS, RESPONSES TO STRESS AND EXTERNAL STIMULI, AS WELL AS WOUND HEALING AND COAGULATION CASCADES. INTERESTINGLY, OUR OBSERVATIONS INCLUDE SIGNIFICANT, REPLICABLE ASSOCIATIONS BETWEEN SERPINA1 HYPOMETHYLATION AND COPD AND LOWER AVERAGE LUNG FUNCTION PHENOTYPES (COMBINED P VALUES: COPD, 1.5 X 10(-23); FEV(1)/FVC, 1.5 X 10(-35); FEV(1), 2.2 X 10(-40)). CONCLUSIONS: GENETIC AND EPIGENETIC PATHWAYS MAY BOTH CONTRIBUTE TO COPD. MANY OF THE TOP ASSOCIATIONS BETWEEN COPD AND DNA METHYLATION OCCUR IN BIOLOGICALLY PLAUSIBLE PATHWAYS. THIS LARGE-SCALE ANALYSIS SUGGESTS THAT DNA METHYLATION MAY BE A BIOMARKER OF COPD AND MAY HIGHLIGHT NEW PATHWAYS OF COPD PATHOGENESIS.	2012	
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           
16  5883 29 SYSTEMIC AND AIRWAY EPIGENETIC DISRUPTIONS ARE ASSOCIATED WITH HEALTH STATUS IN COPD. EPIGENETIC MODIFICATIONS ARE COMMON IN CHRONIC OBSTRUCTIVE PULMONARY DISEASE (COPD); HOWEVER, THEIR CLINICAL RELEVANCE IS LARGELY UNKNOWN. WE HYPOTHESIZED THAT EPIGENETIC DISRUPTIONS ARE ASSOCIATED WITH SYMPTOMS AND HEALTH STATUS IN COPD. WE PROFILED THE BLOOD (N = 57) AND AIRWAYS (N = 62) OF COPD PATIENTS FOR DNA METHYLATION (N = 55 PAIRED). THE PATIENTS' HEALTH STATUS WAS ASSESSED USING THE ST. GEORGE'S RESPIRATORY QUESTIONNAIRE (SGRQ). WE CONDUCTED DIFFERENTIAL METHYLATION ANALYSES AND IDENTIFIED PATHWAYS CHARACTERIZED BY EPIGENETIC DISRUPTIONS ASSOCIATED WITH SGRQ SCORES AND ITS INDIVIDUAL DOMAINS. 29,211 AND 5044 DIFFERENTIALLY METHYLATED POSITIONS (DMPS) WERE ASSOCIATED WITH TOTAL SGRQ SCORES IN BLOOD AND AIRWAY SAMPLES, RESPECTIVELY. THE ACTIVITY, IMPACT, AND SYMPTOM DOMAINS WERE ASSOCIATED WITH 9161, 25,689 AND 17,293 DMPS IN BLOOD, RESPECTIVELY; AND 4674, 3730 AND 5063 DMPS IN AIRWAYS, RESPECTIVELY. THERE WAS A SUBSTANTIAL OVERLAP OF DMPS BETWEEN AIRWAY AND BLOOD. DMPS WERE ENRICHED FOR PATHWAYS RELATED TO COMMON CO-MORBIDITIES OF COPD (E.G., AGEING, CANCER AND NEUROLOGICAL) IN BOTH TISSUES. HEALTH STATUS IN COPD IS ASSOCIATED WITH AIRWAY AND SYSTEMIC EPIGENETIC CHANGES ESPECIALLY IN PATHWAYS RELATED TO CO-MORBIDITIES OF COPD. THERE ARE MORE BLOOD DMPS THAN IN THE AIRWAYS SUGGESTING THAT BLOOD EPIGENOME IS A PROMISING SOURCE TO DISCOVER BIOMARKERS FOR CLINICAL OUTCOMES IN COPD.	2023	
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   
17   304 34 AIRWAY AGING AND METHYLATION DISRUPTIONS IN HIV-ASSOCIATED CHRONIC OBSTRUCTIVE PULMONARY DISEASE. RATIONALE: AGE-RELATED DISEASES LIKE CHRONIC OBSTRUCTIVE PULMONARY DISEASE (COPD) OCCUR AT HIGHER RATES IN PEOPLE LIVING WITH HUMAN IMMUNODEFICIENCY VIRUS (PLWH) THAN IN UNINFECTED POPULATIONS. OBJECTIVES: TO IDENTIFY WHETHER ACCELERATED AGING CAN BE OBSERVED IN THE AIRWAYS OF PLWH WITH COPD, MANIFEST BY A UNIQUE DNA METHYLATION SIGNATURE. METHODS: BRONCHIAL EPITHELIAL BRUSHINGS FROM PLWH WITH AND WITHOUT COPD AND HIV-UNINFECTED ADULTS WITH AND WITHOUT COPD (N = 76) WERE PROFILED FOR DNA METHYLATION AND GENE EXPRESSION. WE EVALUATED GLOBAL ALU AND LINE-1 METHYLATION AND CALCULATED THE EPIGENETIC AGE USING THE HORVATH CLOCK AND THE METHYLATION TELOMERE LENGTH ESTIMATOR. TO IDENTIFY GENOME-WIDE DIFFERENTIAL DNA METHYLATION AND GENE EXPRESSION ASSOCIATED WITH HIV AND COPD, ROBUST LINEAR MODELS WERE USED FOLLOWED BY AN EXPRESSION QUANTITATIVE TRAIT METHYLATION (EQTM) ANALYSIS. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: EPIGENETIC AGE ACCELERATION AND SHORTER METHYLATION ESTIMATES OF TELOMERE LENGTH WERE FOUND IN PLWH WITH COPD COMPARED WITH PLWH WITHOUT COPD AND UNINFECTED PATIENTS WITH AND WITHOUT COPD. GLOBAL HYPOMETHYLATION WAS IDENTIFIED IN PLWH. WE IDENTIFIED 7,970 CYTOSINE BASES LOCATED NEXT TO A GUANINE BASE (CPG SITES), 293 GENES, AND 9 EXPRESSION QUANTITATIVE TRAIT METHYLATION-GENE PAIRS ASSOCIATED WITH THE INTERACTION BETWEEN HIV AND COPD. ACTIN BINDING LIM PROTEIN FAMILY MEMBER 3 (ABLIM3) WAS ONE OF THE NOVEL CANDIDATE GENES FOR HIV-ASSOCIATED COPD HIGHLIGHTED BY OUR ANALYSIS. CONCLUSIONS: METHYLATION AGE ACCELERATION IS OBSERVED IN THE AIRWAY EPITHELIUM OF PLWH WITH COPD, A PROCESS THAT MAY BE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE HEIGHTENED RISK OF COPD IN THIS POPULATION. THEIR DISTINCT METHYLATION PROFILE, DIFFERING FROM THAT OBSERVED IN PATIENTS WITH COPD ALONE, SUGGESTS A UNIQUE PATHOGENESIS TO HIV-ASSOCIATED COPD. THE ASSOCIATIONS WARRANT FURTHER INVESTIGATION TO ESTABLISH CAUSALITY.	2022	
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            
18  1408 31 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	
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      
19  2150 33 EPIGENETIC MEASURES OF AGEING PREDICT THE PREVALENCE AND INCIDENCE OF LEADING CAUSES OF DEATH AND DISEASE BURDEN. BACKGROUND: INDIVIDUALS OF THE SAME CHRONOLOGICAL AGE DISPLAY DIFFERENT RATES OF BIOLOGICAL AGEING. A NUMBER OF MEASURES OF BIOLOGICAL AGE HAVE BEEN PROPOSED WHICH HARNESS AGE-RELATED CHANGES IN DNA METHYLATION PROFILES. THESE MEASURES INCLUDE FIVE 'EPIGENETIC CLOCKS' WHICH PROVIDE AN INDEX OF HOW MUCH AN INDIVIDUAL'S BIOLOGICAL AGE DIFFERS FROM THEIR CHRONOLOGICAL AGE AT THE TIME OF MEASUREMENT. THE FIVE CLOCKS ENCOMPASS METHYLATION-BASED PREDICTORS OF CHRONOLOGICAL AGE (HORVATHAGE, HANNUMAGE), ALL-CAUSE MORTALITY (DNAM PHENOAGE, DNAM GRIMAGE) AND TELOMERE LENGTH (DNAM TELOMERE LENGTH). A SIXTH EPIGENETIC MEASURE OF AGEING DIFFERS FROM THESE CLOCKS IN THAT IT ACTS AS A SPEEDOMETER PROVIDING A SINGLE TIME-POINT MEASUREMENT OF THE PACE OF AN INDIVIDUAL'S BIOLOGICAL AGEING. THIS MEASURE OF AGEING IS TERMED DUNEDINPOAM. IN THIS STUDY, WE TEST THE ASSOCIATION BETWEEN THESE SIX EPIGENETIC MEASURES OF AGEING AND THE PREVALENCE AND INCIDENCE OF THE LEADING CAUSES OF DISEASE BURDEN AND MORTALITY IN HIGH-INCOME COUNTRIES (N </= 9537, GENERATION SCOTLAND: SCOTTISH FAMILY HEALTH STUDY). RESULTS: DNAM GRIMAGE PREDICTED INCIDENCE OF CLINICALLY DIAGNOSED CHRONIC OBSTRUCTIVE PULMONARY DISEASE (COPD), TYPE 2 DIABETES AND ISCHEMIC HEART DISEASE AFTER 13 YEARS OF FOLLOW-UP (HAZARD RATIOS = 2.22, 1.52 AND 1.41, RESPECTIVELY). DUNEDINPOAM PREDICTED THE INCIDENCE OF COPD AND LUNG CANCER (HAZARD RATIOS = 2.02 AND 1.45, RESPECTIVELY). DNAM PHENOAGE PREDICTED INCIDENCE OF TYPE 2 DIABETES (HAZARD RATIO = 1.54). DNAM TELOMERE LENGTH ASSOCIATED WITH THE INCIDENCE OF ISCHEMIC HEART DISEASE (HAZARD RATIO = 0.80). DNAM GRIMAGE ASSOCIATED WITH ALL-CAUSE MORTALITY, THE PREVALENCE OF COPD AND SPIROMETRY MEASURES AT THE STUDY BASELINE. THESE ASSOCIATIONS WERE PRESENT AFTER ADJUSTING FOR POSSIBLE CONFOUNDING RISK FACTORS INCLUDING ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION, BODY MASS INDEX, DEPRIVATION, EDUCATION AND TOBACCO SMOKING AND SURPASSED STRINGENT BONFERRONI-CORRECTED SIGNIFICANCE THRESHOLDS. CONCLUSIONS: OUR DATA SUGGEST THAT EPIGENETIC MEASURES OF AGEING MAY HAVE UTILITY IN CLINICAL SETTINGS TO COMPLEMENT GOLD-STANDARD METHODS FOR DISEASE ASSESSMENT AND MANAGEMENT.	2020	
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            
20  2147 29 EPIGENETIC MARKER OF TELOMERIC AGE IS ASSOCIATED WITH EXACERBATIONS AND HOSPITALIZATIONS IN CHRONIC OBSTRUCTIVE PULMONARY DISEASE. BACKGROUND: CHRONIC OBSTRUCTIVE PULMONARY DISEASE (COPD) IS AN AGE-RELATED CONDITION THAT HAS BEEN ASSOCIATED WITH EARLY TELOMERE ATTRITION; THE CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS OF TELOMERE SHORTENING IN COPD ARE NOT WELL KNOWN. IN THIS STUDY WE AIMED TO DETERMINE THE RELATIONSHIP OF THE EPIGENETIC REGULATION OF TELOMERIC LENGTH IN PERIPHERAL BLOOD WITH THE RISK OF EXACERBATIONS AND HOSPITALIZATION IN PATIENTS WITH COPD. METHODS: BLOOD DNA METHYLATION PROFILES WERE OBTAINED FROM 292 PATIENTS WITH COPD ENROLLED IN THE PLACEBO ARM OF THE MACROLIDE AZITHROMYCIN TO PREVENT RAPID WORSENING OF SYMPTOMS ASSOCIATED WITH CHRONIC OBSTRUCTIVE PULMONARY DISEASE (MACRO) STUDY AND WHO WERE FOLLOWED FOR 1-YEAR. WE CALCULATED TELOMERE LENGTH BASED ON DNA METHYLATION MARKERS (DNAMTL) AND RELATED THIS BIOMARKER TO THE RISK OF EXACERBATION AND HOSPITALIZATION AND HEALTH STATUS (ST. GEORGE RESPIRATORY QUESTIONNAIRE [SGRQ]) SCORE OVER TIME USING A COX PROPORTIONAL HAZARDS MODEL. WE ALSO USED LINEAR MODELS TO INVESTIGATE THE ASSOCIATIONS OF DNAMTL WITH THE RATES OF EXACERBATION AND HOSPITALIZATION (ADJUSTED FOR CHRONOLOGICAL AGE, LUNG FUNCTION, RACE, SEX, SMOKING, BODY MASS INDEX AND CELL COMPOSITION). RESULTS: PARTICIPANTS WITH SHORT DNAMTL DEMONSTRATED INCREASED RISK OF EXACERBATION (P = 0.02) AND HOSPITALIZATION (P = 0.03) COMPARED TO THOSE WITH LONGER DNAMTL. DNAMTL AGE ACCELERATION WAS ASSOCIATED WITH HIGHER RATES OF EXACERBATION (P = 1.35 X 10(-04)) AND HOSPITALIZATION (P = 5.21 X 10(-03)) AND POOR HEALTH STATUS (LOWER SGRQ SCORES) INDEPENDENT OF CHRONOLOGICAL AGE (P = 0.03). CONCLUSION: TELOMERIC AGE BASED ON BLOOD DNA METHYLATION IS ASSOCIATED WITH COPD EXACERBATION AND HOSPITALIZATION AND THUS A PROMISING BIOMARKER FOR POOR OUTCOMES IN COPD.	2021