1 718 192 CALCIUM-DEPENDENT INTRACELLULAR SIGNAL PATHWAYS IN PRIMARY CULTURED ADIPOCYTES AND ANK3 GENE VARIATION IN PATIENTS WITH BIPOLAR DISORDER AND HEALTHY CONTROLS. BIPOLAR DISORDER (BD) IS A CHRONIC PSYCHIATRIC DISORDER OF PUBLIC HEALTH IMPORTANCE AFFECTING >1% OF THE SWEDISH POPULATION. DESPITE PROGRESS, PATIENTS STILL SUFFER FROM CHRONIC MOOD SWITCHES WITH POTENTIAL SEVERE CONSEQUENCES. THUS, EARLY DETECTION, DIAGNOSIS AND INITIATION OF CORRECT TREATMENT ARE CRITICAL. CULTURED ADIPOCYTES FROM 35 PATIENTS WITH BD AND 38 HEALTHY CONTROLS WERE ANALYSED USING SIGNAL PATHWAY REPORTER ASSAYS, THAT IS, PROTEIN KINASE C (PKC), PROTEIN KINASE A (PKA), MITOGEN-ACTIVATED PROTEIN KINASES (EXTRACELLULAR SIGNAL-REGULATED KINASE (ERK) AND C-JUN N-TERMINAL KINASE (JNK)), MYC, WNT AND P53. THE LEVELS OF ACTIVATED TARGET TRANSCRIPTIONAL FACTORS WERE MEASURED IN ADIPOCYTES BEFORE AND AFTER STIMULATION WITH LITHIUM AND ESCITALOPRAM. VARIATIONS WERE ANALYSED IN THE LOCI OF 25 DIFFERENT SINGLE-NUCLEOTIDE POLYMORPHISMS (SNPS). ACTIVATION OF INTRACELLULAR SIGNALS IN SEVERAL PATHWAYS ANALYSED WERE SIGNIFICANTLY HIGHER IN PATIENTS THAN IN HEALTHY CONTROLS UPON DRUG STIMULATION, ESPECIALLY WITH ESCITALOPRAM STIMULATION OF PKC, JNK AND MYC, AS WELL AS LITHIUM-STIMULATED PKC, WHEREAS NO MEANINGFUL DIFFERENCE WAS OBSERVED BEFORE STIMULATION. UNIVARIATE ANALYSES OF CONTINGENCY TABLES FOR 80 CATEGORICAL SNP RESULTS VERSUS DIAGNOSES SHOWED A SIGNIFICANT LINK WITH THE ANK3 GENE (RS10761482; LIKELIHOOD RATIO CHI(2)=4.63; P=0.031). IN A MULTIVARIATE ORDINAL LOGISTIC FIT FOR DIAGNOSIS, A BACKWARD STEPWISE PROCEDURE SELECTED ANK3 AS THE REMAINING SIGNIFICANT PREDICTOR. COMPARISON OF THE ESCITALOPRAM-STIMULATED PKC ACTIVITY AND THE ANK3 GENOTYPE SHOWED THEM TO ADD THEIR SHARE OF THE DIAGNOSTIC VARIANCE, WITH NO INTERACTION (15% OF VARIANCE EXPLAINED, P<0.002). THE STUDY IS CROSS-SECTIONAL WITH NO LONGITUDINAL FOLLOW-UP. COHORTS ARE RELATIVELY SMALL WITH NO MEDICATION-FREE PATIENTS, AND THERE ARE NO 'ILL PATIENT' CONTROLS. IT TAKES 3 TO 4 WEEKS OF CULTURE TO EXPAND ADIPOCYTES THAT MAY CHANGE EPIGENETIC PROFILES BUT REMOVE THE POSSIBILITY OF MEDICATION EFFECTS. ABNORMALITIES IN THE REACTIVITY OF INTRACELLULAR SIGNAL PATHWAYS TO STIMULATION AND THE ANK3 GENOTYPE MAY BE ASSOCIATED WITH PATHOGENESIS OF BD. ALGORITHMS USING BIOLOGICAL PATTERNS SUCH AS PATHWAY REACTIVITY TOGETHER WITH STRUCTURAL GENETIC SNP DATA MAY PROVIDE OPPORTUNITIES FOR EARLIER DETECTION AND EFFECTIVE TREATMENT OF BD. 2015 2 3052 34 GENOME-WIDE ASSOCIATION ANALYSIS OF PAIN SEVERITY IN DYSMENORRHEA IDENTIFIES ASSOCIATION AT CHROMOSOME 1P13.2, NEAR THE NERVE GROWTH FACTOR LOCUS. DYSMENORRHEA IS A COMMON CHRONIC PELVIC PAIN SYNDROME AFFECTING WOMEN OF CHILDBEARING POTENTIAL. FAMILY STUDIES SUGGEST THAT GENETIC BACKGROUND INFLUENCES THE SEVERITY OF DYSMENORRHEA, BUT GENETIC PREDISPOSITION AND MOLECULAR MECHANISMS UNDERLYING DYSMENORRHEA ARE NOT UNDERSTOOD. IN THIS STUDY, WE CONDUCT THE FIRST GENOME-WIDE ASSOCIATION STUDY TO IDENTIFY GENETIC FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH DYSMENORRHEA PAIN SEVERITY. A COHORT OF FEMALES OF EUROPEAN DESCENT (N = 11,891) AGED 18 TO 45 YEARS RATED THEIR AVERAGE DYSMENORRHEA PAIN SEVERITY. WE USED A LINEAR REGRESSION MODEL ADJUSTING FOR AGE AND BODY MASS INDEX, IDENTIFYING ONE GENOME-WIDE SIGNIFICANT (P < 5 X 10) ASSOCIATION (RS7523086, P = 4.1 X 10, EFFECT SIZE 0.1 [95% CONFIDENCE INTERVAL, 0.074-0.126]). THIS SINGLE NUCLEOTIDE POLYMORPHISM IS COLOCALISING WITH NGF, ENCODING NERVE GROWTH FACTOR. THE PRESENCE OF ONE RISK ALLELE CORRESPONDS TO A PREDICTED 0.1-POINT INCREASE IN PAIN INTENSITY ON A 4-POINT ORDINAL PAIN SCALE. THE PUTATIVE EFFECTS ON NGF FUNCTION AND/OR EXPRESSION REMAIN UNKNOWN. HOWEVER, GENETIC VARIATION COLOCALISES WITH ACTIVE EPIGENETIC MARKS IN FAT AND OVARY TISSUES, AND EXPRESSION LEVELS IN AORTA TISSUE OF A NONCODING RNA FLANKING NGF CORRELATE. PARTICIPANTS REPORTING EXTREME DYSMENORRHEA PAIN WERE MORE LIKELY TO REPORT BEING POSITIVE FOR ENDOMETRIOSIS, POLYCYSTIC OVARIAN SYNDROME, DEPRESSION, AND OTHER PSYCHIATRIC DISORDERS. OUR RESULTS INDICATE THAT DYSMENORRHEA PAIN SEVERITY IS PARTLY GENETICALLY DETERMINED. NGF ALREADY HAS AN ESTABLISHED ROLE IN CHRONIC PAIN DISORDERS, AND OUR FINDINGS SUGGEST THAT NGF MAY BE AN IMPORTANT MEDIATOR FOR GYNAECOLOGICAL/PELVIC PAIN IN THE VISCERA. 2016 3 4249 32 METHYLATION-BASED BIOLOGICAL AGE AND BREAST CANCER RISK. BACKGROUND: AGE IS ONE OF THE STRONGEST PREDICTORS OF CANCER, CHRONIC DISEASE, AND MORTALITY, BUT BIOLOGICAL RESPONSES TO AGING DIFFER AMONG PEOPLE. EPIGENETIC DNA MODIFICATIONS HAVE BEEN USED TO ESTIMATE "BIOLOGICAL AGE," WHICH MAY BE A USEFUL PREDICTOR OF DISEASE RISK. WE TESTED THIS HYPOTHESIS FOR BREAST CANCER. METHODS: USING A CASE-COHORT APPROACH, WE MEASURED BASELINE BLOOD DNA METHYLATION OF 2764 WOMEN ENROLLED IN THE SISTER STUDY, 1566 OF WHOM SUBSEQUENTLY DEVELOPED BREAST CANCER AFTER AN AVERAGE OF 6 YEARS. USING THREE PREVIOUSLY ESTABLISHED METHYLATION-BASED "CLOCKS" (HANNUM, HORVATH, AND LEVINE), WE DEFINED BIOLOGICAL AGE ACCELERATION FOR EACH WOMAN BY COMPARING HER ESTIMATED BIOLOGICAL AGE WITH HER CHRONOLOGICAL AGE. HAZARD RATIOS AND 95% CONFIDENCE INTERVALS FOR BREAST CANCER RISK WERE ESTIMATED USING COX REGRESSION MODELS. ALL STATISTICAL TESTS WERE TWO-SIDED. RESULTS: EACH OF THE THREE CLOCKS SHOWED THAT BIOLOGICAL AGE ACCELERATION WAS STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANTLY ASSOCIATED WITH INCREASED RISK OF DEVELOPING BREAST CANCER (5-YEAR AGE ACCELERATION, HANNUM'S CLOCK: HAZARD RATIO [HR] = 1.10, 95% CONFIDENCE INTERVAL [CI] = 1.00 TO 1.21, P = .04; HORVATH'S CLOCK: HR = 1.08, 95% CI = 1.00 TO 1.17, P = .04; LEVINE'S CLOCK: HR = 1.15, 95% CI = 1.07 TO 1.23, P < .001). FOR LEVINE'S CLOCK, EACH 5-YEAR ACCELERATION IN BIOLOGICAL AGE CORRESPONDED WITH A 15% INCREASE IN BREAST CANCER RISK. ALTHOUGH BIOLOGICAL AGE MAY ACCELERATE WITH MENOPAUSAL TRANSITION, AGE ACCELERATION IN PREMENOPAUSAL WOMEN INDEPENDENTLY PREDICTED BREAST CANCER. CASE-ONLY ANALYSIS SUGGESTED THAT, AMONG WOMEN WHO DEVELOP BREAST CANCER, INCREASED AGE ACCELERATION IS ASSOCIATED WITH INVASIVE CANCER (ODDS RATIO FOR INVASIVE = 1.09, 95% CI = 0.98 TO 1.22, P = .10). CONCLUSIONS: DNA METHYLATION-BASED MEASURES OF BIOLOGICAL AGE MAY BE IMPORTANT PREDICTORS OF BREAST CANCER RISK. 2019 4 1345 35 DETECTION OF DIFFERENTIALLY METHYLATED REGIONS USING BAYES FACTOR FOR ORDINAL GROUP RESPONSES. RESEARCHERS IN GENOMICS ARE INCREASINGLY INTERESTED IN EPIGENETIC FACTORS SUCH AS DNA METHYLATION, BECAUSE THEY PLAY AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN REGULATING GENE EXPRESSION WITHOUT CHANGES IN THE DNA SEQUENCE. THERE HAVE BEEN SIGNIFICANT ADVANCES IN DEVELOPING STATISTICAL METHODS TO DETECT DIFFERENTIALLY METHYLATED REGIONS (DMRS) ASSOCIATED WITH BINARY DISEASE STATUS. MOST OF THESE METHODS ARE BEING DEVELOPED FOR DETECTING DIFFERENTIAL METHYLATION RATES BETWEEN CASES AND CONTROLS. WE CONSIDER MULTIPLE SEVERITY LEVELS OF DISEASE, AND DEVELOP A BAYESIAN STATISTICAL METHOD TO DETECT THE REGION WITH INCREASING (OR DECREASING) METHYLATION RATES AS THE DISEASE SEVERITY INCREASES. PATIENTS ARE CLASSIFIED INTO MORE THAN TWO GROUPS, BASED ON THE DISEASE SEVERITY (E.G., STAGES OF CANCER), AND DMRS ARE DETECTED BY USING MOVING WINDOWS ALONG THE GENOME. WITHIN EACH WINDOW, THE BAYES FACTOR IS CALCULATED TO TEST THE HYPOTHESIS OF MONOTONIC INCREASE IN METHYLATION RATES CORRESPONDING TO SEVERITY OF THE DISEASE VERSUS NO DIFFERENCE. A MIXED-EFFECT MODEL IS USED TO INCORPORATE THE CORRELATION OF METHYLATION RATES OF NEARBY CPG SITES IN THE REGION. RESULTS FROM EXTENSIVE SIMULATION INDICATE THAT OUR PROPOSED METHOD IS STATISTICALLY VALID AND REASONABLY POWERFUL. WE DEMONSTRATE OUR APPROACH ON A BISULFITE SEQUENCING DATASET FROM A CHRONIC LYMPHOCYTIC LEUKEMIA (CLL) STUDY. 2019 5 223 26 ACUTE PSYCHOSOCIAL STRESS-MEDIATED CHANGES IN THE EXPRESSION AND METHYLATION OF PERFORIN IN CHRONIC FATIGUE SYNDROME. PERFORIN (PRF1) IS ESSENTIAL FOR IMMUNE SURVEILLANCE AND STUDIES REPORT DECREASED PERFORIN IN CHRONIC FATIGUE SYNDROME (CFS), AN ILLNESS POTENTIALLY ASSOCIATED WITH STRESS AND/OR INFECTION. WE HYPOTHESIZE THAT STRESS CAN INFLUENCE REGULATION OF PRF1 EXPRESSION, AND THAT THIS REGULATION WILL DIFFER BETWEEN CFS AND NON-FATIGUED (NF) CONTROLS. WE USED THE TRIER SOCIAL STRESS TEST (TSST) AS A STANDARDIZED ACUTE PSYCHOSOCIAL STRESS, AND EVALUATED ITS EFFECT ON PRF1 EXPRESSION AND METHYLATION IN CFS (N = 34) COMPARED WITH NF (N = 47) PARTICIPANTS. DURING THE TSST, NATURAL KILLER (NK) CELLS INCREASED SIGNIFICANTLY IN BOTH CFS (P = <0.0001) AND NF SUBJECTS (P = <0.0001). UNLIKE PREVIOUS REPORTS, THERE WAS NO SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE IN PRF1 EXPRESSION AT BASELINE OR DURING TSST BETWEEN CFS AND NF. HOWEVER, WHOLE BLOOD PRF1 EXPRESSION INCREASED 1.6 FOLD DURING THE TSST IN BOTH CFS (P = 0.0003) AND NF (P = <0.0001). FURTHER, THE PEAK RESPONSE IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWING THE TSST WAS LOWER IN CFS COMPARED WITH NF (P = 0.04). IN ADDITION, AT 1.5 HOURS POST TSST, PRF1 EXPRESSION WAS ELEVATED IN CFS COMPARED WITH NF (WHOLE BLOOD, P = 0.06; PBMC, P = 0.02). METHYLATION OF SEVEN CPG SITES IN THE METHYLATION SENSITIVE REGION OF THE PRF1 PROMOTER RANGED FROM 38%-79% WITH NO SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES BETWEEN CFS AND NF. ALTHOUGH, THE AVERAGE BASELINE METHYLATION OF ALL SEVEN CPG SITES DID NOT DIFFER BETWEEN CFS AND NF GROUPS, IT SHOWED A SIGNIFICANT NEGATIVE CORRELATION WITH PRF1 EXPRESSION AT ALL TSST TIME POINTS IN BOTH CFS (R = -0.56, P = <0.0001) AND NF (R = -0.38, P = <0.0001). AMONG PARTICIPANTS WITH HIGH AVERAGE METHYLATION (>/=65%), PRF1 EXPRESSION WAS SIGNIFICANTLY LOWER IN CFS THAN NF SUBJECTS IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWING TSST. THESE FINDINGS SUGGEST METHYLATION COULD BE AN IMPORTANT EPIGENETIC DETERMINANT OF INTER-INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES IN PRF1 EXPRESSION AND THAT THE DIFFERENCES IN PRF1 EXPRESSION AND METHYLATION BETWEEN CFS AND NF IN THE ACUTE STRESS RESPONSE REQUIRE FURTHER INVESTIGATION. 2013 6 2678 28 EVALUATION OF A PROGNOSTIC EPIGENETIC CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM IN CHRONIC LYMPHOCYTIC LEUKEMIA PATIENTS. BACKGROUND: METHYLATION AT 5 CPG SITES WAS PREVIOUSLY SHOWN TO CLASSIFY CHRONIC LYMPHOCYTIC LEUKEMIA (CLL) INTO 3 PROGNOSTIC SUBGROUPS. HERE, WE AIMED TO VALIDATE THE MARKER SET IN AN ADDITIONAL COHORT AND TO EVALUATE ITS CLINICAL UTILITY FOR CLL PATIENT STRATIFICATION. METHODS: WE EVALUATED THIS EPIGENETIC MARKER SET IN 79 GERMAN PATIENTS USING BISULFITE TREATMENT FOLLOWED BY PYROSEQUENCING AND CLASSIFICATION USING A SUPPORT VECTOR MACHINE-LEARNING TOOL. RESULTS: THE N-CLL, I-CLL, AND M-CLL CLASSIFICATION WAS DETECTED IN 28 (35%), 10 (13%), AND 41 (51%) PATIENTS, RESPECTIVELY. EPIGENETIC GROUPING WAS ASSOCIATED WITH IGHV MUTATIONAL STATUS (P = 2 X 10(-12)), ISOLATED DEL13Q (P = 9 X 10(-6)), DEL17P (P = .015), COMPLEX KARYOTYPE (P = .005), VH-USAGE, AND CLINICAL OUTCOME AS TIME TO FIRST TREATMENT (P = 1.4 X 10(-12)) AND OVERALL SURVIVAL (P = .003). MULTIVARIATE COX REGRESSION ANALYSIS IDENTIFIED N-CLL AS A FACTOR FOR EARLIER TREATMENT HAZARD RATIO (HR), 6.3 (95% CONFIDENCE INTERVAL [CI] 2.4-16.4; P = .0002) COMPARED TO IGHV MUTATIONAL STATUS (HR 4.6, 95% CI 1.9-11.3, P = .0008). IN ADDITION, WHEN COMPARING THE PROGNOSTIC VALUE OF THE EPIGENETIC CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM WITH THE IGHV CLASSIFICATION, EPIGENETIC GROUPING PERFORMED BETTER COMPARED TO IGHV MUTATIONAL STATUS USING KAPLAN-MEIER ESTIMATION AND ALLOWED THE IDENTIFICATION OF A THIRD, INTERMEDIATE (I-CLL) GROUP. THUS, OUR STUDY CONFIRMED THE PROGNOSTIC VALUE OF THE EPIGENETIC MARKER SET FOR PATIENT STRATIFICATION IN ROUTINE CLINICAL DIAGNOSTICS. 2022 7 173 32 ACCELERATED AGING IN BIPOLAR DISORDERS: AN EXPLORATORY STUDY OF SIX EPIGENETIC CLOCKS. BIPOLAR DISORDER (BD) IS A CHRONIC AND SEVERE PSYCHIATRIC DISORDER ASSOCIATED WITH SIGNIFICANT MEDICAL MORBIDITY AND REDUCED LIFE EXPECTANCY. IN THIS STUDY, WE ASSESSED ACCELERATED EPIGENETIC AGING IN INDIVIDUALS WITH BD USING VARIOUS DNA METHYLATION (DNAM)-BASED MARKERS. FOR THIS PURPOSE, WE USED FIVE EPIGENETIC CLOCKS (HORVATH, HANNUM, EN, PHENOAGE, AND GRIMAGE) AND A DNAM-BASED TELOMERE LENGTH CLOCK (DNAMTL). DNAM PROFILES WERE OBTAINED USING INFINIUM METHYLATIONEPIC ARRAYS FROM WHOLE-BLOOD SAMPLES OF 184 INDIVIDUALS WITH BD. WE ALSO ESTIMATED BLOOD CELL COUNTS BASED ON DNAM LEVELS FOR ADJUSTMENT. SIGNIFICANT CORRELATIONS BETWEEN CHRONOLOGICAL AGE AND EACH EPIGENETIC AGE ESTIMATED USING THE SIX DIFFERENT CLOCKS WERE OBSERVED. FOLLOWING ADJUSTMENT FOR BLOOD CELL COUNTS, WE FOUND THAT THE SIX EPIGENETIC AGEACCELS (AGE ACCELERATIONS) WERE SIGNIFICANTLY ASSOCIATED WITH THE BODY MASS INDEX. GRIMAGE AGEACCEL WAS SIGNIFICANTLY ASSOCIATED WITH MALE SEX, SMOKING STATUS AND CHILDHOOD MALTREATMENT. DNAMTL AGEACCEL WAS SIGNIFICANTLY ASSOCIATED WITH SMOKING STATUS. OVERALL, THIS STUDY SHOWED THAT DISTINCT EPIGENETIC CLOCKS ARE SENSITIVE TO DIFFERENT ASPECTS OF AGING PROCESS IN BD. FURTHER INVESTIGATIONS WITH COMPREHENSIVE EPIGENETIC CLOCK ANALYSES AND LARGE SAMPLES ARE REQUIRED TO CONFIRM OUR FINDINGS OF POTENTIAL DETERMINANTS OF AN ACCELERATED EPIGENETIC AGING IN BD. 2023 8 3460 29 HYPOMETHYLATION OF THE IL8 PROMOTER IN NASAL EPITHELIAL CELLS OF PATIENTS WITH CHRONIC RHINOSINUSITIS WITH NASAL POLYPS. BACKGROUND: IL-8 IS AN IMPORTANT CHEMOKINE IMPLICATED IN THE PATHOGENESIS OF CHRONIC RHINOSINUSITIS (CRS), BUT LITTLE IS KNOWN ABOUT EPIGENETIC REGULATION OF IL8 IN THE PATHOGENESIS OF CRS. OBJECTIVE: WE SOUGHT TO INVESTIGATE THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE DNA METHYLATION LEVEL IN THE IL8 PROXIMAL PROMOTER AND CRS IN HAN CHINESE SUBJECTS. METHODS: PATIENTS WITH CHRONIC RHINOSINUSITIS WITH NASAL POLYPS (CRSWNP; N = 187), PATIENTS WITH CHRONIC RHINOSINUSITIS WITHOUT NASAL POLYPS (CRSSNP; N = 89), AND CONTROL SUBJECTS (N = 57) WERE ENROLLED IN 2 INDEPENDENT COHORTS. PURIFIED HUMAN NASAL EPITHELIAL CELLS FROM EACH PARTICIPANT WERE ASSESSED FOR PERCENTAGE DNA METHYLATION OF CPG SITES IN THE IL8 PROXIMAL PROMOTER BY USING BISULFITE PYROSEQUENCING AND FOR FUNCTIONAL ASPECTS OF METHYLATION STATUS BY USING IN VITRO ASSAYS. RESULTS: DNA METHYLATION OF CPG SITES 1, 2, AND 3, RESPECTIVELY, IN THE IL8 PROXIMAL PROMOTER WAS SIGNIFICANTLY DECREASED IN HUMAN NASAL EPITHELIAL CELLS OF PATIENTS WITH CRSWNP COMPARED WITH THAT IN PATIENTS WITH CRSSNP (P < .001) AND CONTROL SUBJECTS (P < .001). PERCENTAGE OF DNA METHYLATION OF THE CPG3 SITE WAS CORRELATED NEGATIVELY WITH BOTH TISSUE EOSINOPHILIC CATIONIC PROTEIN (P < .01) AND MYELOPEROXIDASE (P < .05) LEVELS. IL-1BETA (P < .001) AND TNF-ALPHA (P < .01) SIGNIFICANTLY INCREASED IL8 EXPRESSION ACCOMPANIED BY A REDUCTION IN METHYLATION AT THE CPG3 SITE (P < .001). ELECTROPHORETIC MOBILITY SHIFT ASSAYS DEMONSTRATED THAT METHYLATION STATUS OF CPG3 CHANGED THE BINDING OF OCTAMER-BINDING TRANSCRIPTION FACTOR 1 AND NUCLEAR FACTOR KAPPAB. CONCLUSION: DECREASED DNA METHYLATION OF PARTICULARLY CPG SITES IN THE IL8 PROXIMAL PROMOTER MIGHT PLAY A ROLE IN THE PATHOGENESIS OF CRSWNP. 2019 9 1189 41 CORRELATION BETWEEN GLOBAL METHYLATION LEVEL OF PERIPHERAL BLOOD LEUKOCYTES AND SERUM C REACTIVE PROTEIN LEVEL MODIFIED BY MTHFR POLYMORPHISM: A CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY. BACKGROUND: CHRONIC INFLAMMATORY CONDITIONS ARE ASSOCIATED WITH HIGHER TUMOR INCIDENCE THROUGH EPIGENETIC AND GENETIC ALTERATIONS. HERE, WE FOCUSED ON AN ASSOCIATION BETWEEN AN INFLAMMATION MARKER, C-REACTIVE-PROTEIN (CRP), AND GLOBAL DNA METHYLATION LEVELS OF PERIPHERAL BLOOD LEUKOCYTES. METHODS: THE SUBJECTS WERE 384 HEALTHY JAPANESE WOMEN ENROLLED AS THE CONTROL GROUP OF A CASE-CONTROL STUDY FOR BREAST CANCER CONDUCTED FROM 2001 TO 2005. GLOBAL DNA METHYLATION WAS QUANTIFIED BY LUMINOMETRIC METHYLATION ASSAY (LUMA). RESULTS: WITH ADJUSTMENT FOR LIFESTYLE-RELATED FACTORS, INCLUDING FOLATE INTAKE, THE GLOBAL DNA METHYLATION LEVEL OF PERIPHERAL BLOOD LEUKOCYTES WAS SIGNIFICANTLY BUT WEAKLY INCREASED BY 0.43% PER QUARTILE CATEGORY FOR CRP (P FOR TREND = 0.010). ESTIMATED METHYLATION LEVELS STRATIFIED BY CRP QUARTILE WERE 70.0%, 70.8%, 71.4%, AND 71.3%, RESPECTIVELY. IN ADDITION, INTERACTION BETWEEN POLYMORPHISM OF MTHFR (RS1801133, KNOWN AS C677T) AND CRP WAS SIGNIFICANT (P FOR INTERACTION = 0.046); THE GLOBAL METHYLATION LEVEL WAS SIGNIFICANTLY INCREASED BY 0.61% PER QUARTILE CATEGORY FOR CRP IN THE CT/TT GROUP (THOSE WITH THE MINOR ALLELE T, P FOR TREND = 0.001), WHEREAS NO ASSOCIATION WAS OBSERVED IN THE CC GROUP (WILD TYPE). CONCLUSIONS: OUR STUDY SUGGESTS THAT CRP CONCENTRATION IS WEAKLY ASSOCIATED WITH GLOBAL DNA METHYLATION LEVEL. HOWEVER, THIS ASSOCIATION WAS OBSERVED MORE CLEARLY IN INDIVIDUALS WITH THE MINOR ALLELE OF THE MTHFR MISSENSE SNP RS1801133. BY ELUCIDATING THE COMPLEX MECHANISM OF THE REGULATION OF DNA METHYLATION BY BOTH ACQUIRED AND GENETIC FACTORS, OUR RESULTS MAY BE IMPORTANT FOR CANCER PREVENTION. 2018 10 403 40 ANALYSIS OF EPIGENETIC AGE ACCELERATION AND HEALTHY LONGEVITY AMONG OLDER US WOMEN. IMPORTANCE: ACCELERATED BIOLOGICAL AGING IS ASSOCIATED WITH DECREASED PHYSICAL CAPABILITY AND COGNITIVE FUNCTIONING, WHICH ARE ASSOCIATED WITH INCREASED RISK OF MORBIDITY AND MORTALITY. OBJECTIVE: WE INVESTIGATED ASSOCIATIONS BETWEEN EPIGENETIC AGE ACCELERATION (EAA), A BIOMARKER ASSOCIATED WITH AGING, AND HEALTHY LONGEVITY AMONG OLDER WOMEN. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: THIS COHORT STUDY WAS A SECONDARY ANALYSIS OF PARTICIPANTS IN THE WOMEN'S HEALTH INITIATIVE (WHI) WHO WERE ELIGIBLE TO SURVIVE TO AGE 90 YEARS BY SEPTEMBER 30, 2020. PARTICIPANTS WERE LOCATED IN MULTIPLE CENTERS. THIS STUDY WAS RESTRICTED TO WOMEN WITH GENOME-WIDE DNA METHYLATION DATA, GENERATED FROM BASELINE BLOOD SAMPLES WITHIN 3 WHI ANCILLARY STUDIES. MEDIAN (IQR) FOLLOW-UP TIMES FROM BASELINE WERE 21.6 (19.6-22.9) YEARS AND 21.4 (19.8-22.7) YEARS FOR WOMEN WHO SURVIVED TO AGE 90 YEARS WITH AND WITHOUT INTACT MOBILITY, RESPECTIVELY, AND 13.2 (8.8-16.7) FOR WOMEN WHO DID NOT SURVIVE TO AGE 90 YEARS. DATA WERE ANALYZED FROM DECEMBER 2020 TO JULY 2021. EXPOSURES: EAA WAS ESTIMATED USING 4 ESTABLISHED "CLOCKS": HORVATH PANTISSUE, HANNUM, PHENO, AND GRIM. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: USING MULTINOMIAL LOGISTIC REGRESSION, ODDS RATIOS (ORS) AND 95% CIS WERE ESTIMATED FOR 3 HEALTHY LONGEVITY OUTCOMES FOR EACH CLOCK: SURVIVAL TO AGE 90 YEARS WITH INTACT MOBILITY, SURVIVAL TO AGE 90 YEARS WITHOUT INTACT MOBILITY, AND NO SURVIVAL TO AGE 90 YEARS. RESULTS: AMONG 1813 WOMEN, THERE WERE 464 WOMEN (MEAN [SD] AGE AT BASELINE, 71.6 [3.5] YEARS) WHO SURVIVED TO AGE 90 YEARS WITH INTACT MOBILITY AND COGNITIVE FUNCTIONING, 420 WOMEN (MEAN [SD] AGE AT BASELINE, 71.3 [3.2] YEARS) WHO SURVIVED TO AGE 90 YEARS WITHOUT INTACT MOBILITY AND COGNITIVE FUNCTIONING, AND 929 WOMEN (MEAN [SD] AGE AT BASELINE, 70.2 [3.4] YEARS) WHO DID NOT SURVIVE TO AGE 90 YEARS. WOMEN WHO SURVIVED TO AGE 90 YEARS WITH INTACT MOBILITY AND COGNITIVE FUNCTION WERE HEALTHIER AT BASELINE COMPARED WITH WOMEN WHO SURVIVED WITHOUT THOSE OUTCOMES OR WHO DID NOT SURVIVE TO AGE 90 YEARS (EG, 143 WOMEN [30.8%] VS 101 WOMEN [24.0%] AND 202 WOMEN [21.7%] WITH 0 CHRONIC CONDITIONS). THE ODDS OF SURVIVING TO AGE 90 YEARS WITH INTACT MOBILITY WERE LOWER FOR EVERY 1 SD INCREASE IN EAA COMPARED WITH THOSE WHO DID NOT SURVIVE TO AGE 90 YEARS AS MEASURED BY AGEACCELHORVATH (OR, 0.82; 95% CI, 0.69-0.96; P = .01), AGEACCELHANNUM (OR, 0.67; 95% CI, 0.56-0.80; P < .001), AGEACCELPHENO (OR, 0.60; 95% CI, 0.51-0.72; P < .001), AND AGEACCELGRIM (OR, 0.68; 95% CI, 0.55-0.84; P < .001). ORS WERE SIMILAR FOR WOMEN WHO SURVIVED TO AGE 90 YEARS WITH INTACT MOBILITY AND COGNITIVE FUNCTION (EG, AGEACCELHORVATH: OR PER 1 SD INCREASE IN EAA, 0.83; 95% CI, 0.71-0.98; P = .03) COMPARED WITH WOMEN WHO DID NOT SURVIVE TO AGE 90 YEARS. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: THESE FINDINGS SUGGEST THAT EAA MAY BE A VALID BIOMARKER ASSOCIATED WITH HEALTHY LONGEVITY AMONG OLDER WOMEN AND MAY BE USED FOR RISK STRATIFICATION AND RISK ESTIMATION OF FUTURE FUNCTIONAL AND COGNITIVE AGING. OUTCOMES SUGGEST THAT FUTURE STUDIES MAY FOCUS ON THE POTENTIAL FOR PUBLIC HEALTH INTERVENTIONS TO COUNTERACT EAA AND ITS ASSOCIATION WITH POOR HEALTH OUTCOMES TO LOWER DISEASE BURDEN WHILE INCREASING LONGEVITY. 2022 11 1444 38 DIFFERENTIALLY HYPOMETHYLATED CELL-FREE DNA AND CORONARY COLLATERAL CIRCULATION. BACKGROUND: THE FACTORS AFFECTING CARDIOPROTECTIVE COLLATERAL CIRCULATION ARE STILL INCOMPLETELY UNDERSTOOD. RECENTLY, CHARACTERISTICS, SUCH AS CPG METHYLATION OF CELL-FREE DNA (CFDNA), HAVE BEEN REPORTED AS MARKERS WITH CLINICAL UTILITY. THE AIM OF THIS STUDY WAS TO EVALUATE WHETHER CFDNA METHYLATION PATTERNS ARE ASSOCIATED WITH THE GRADE OF CORONARY COLLATERAL CIRCULATION (CCC). RESULT: IN THIS CASE-CONTROL STUDY, CLINICAL AND ANGIOGRAPHIC DATA WERE OBTAINED FROM 143 PATIENTS (MEAN AGE, 58 YEARS, MALE 71%) WITH CHRONIC TOTAL CORONARY OCCLUSION. ENZYMATIC METHYL-SEQUENCING (EM-SEQ) LIBRARIES WERE PREPARED USING THE CFDNA EXTRACTED FROM THE PLASMA. DATA WERE PROCESSED TO OBTAIN THE AVERAGE METHYLATION FRACTION (AMF) TABLES OF GENOMIC REGIONS FROM WHICH BLACKLISTED REGIONS WERE REMOVED. UNSUPERVISED ANALYSIS OF THE OBTAINED AMF VALUES SHOWED THAT SOME OF THE CHANGES IN METHYLATION WERE DUE TO CCC. THROUGH RANDOM FOREST PREPARATION PROCESS, 256 DIFFERENTIALLY METHYLATED REGION (DMR) CANDIDATES SHOWING STRONG ASSOCIATION WITH CCC WERE SELECTED. A RANDOM FOREST CLASSIFIER WAS THEN CONSTRUCTED, AND THE AREA UNDER THE CURVE OF THE RECEIVER OPERATING CHARACTERISTIC CURVE INDICATED AN APPROPRIATE PREDICTIVE FUNCTION FOR CCC. FINALLY, 20 DMRS WERE IDENTIFIED TO HAVE SIGNIFICANTLY DIFFERENT AMF VALUES BETWEEN THE GOOD AND POOR CCC GROUPS. PARTICULARLY, THE GOOD CCC GROUP EXHIBITED HYPOMETHYLATED DMRS. PATHWAY ANALYSIS REVEALED FIVE PATHWAYS, INCLUDING TGF-BETA SIGNALING, TO BE ASSOCIATED WITH GOOD CCC. CONCLUSION: THESE DATA HAVE DEMONSTRATED THAT DIFFERENTIAL HYPOMETHYLATION WAS IDENTIFIED IN DOZENS OF CFDNA REGIONS IN PATIENTS WITH GOOD CCC. OUR RESULTS SUPPORT THE CLINICAL UTILITY OF NONINVASIVELY OBTAINED EPIGENETIC SIGNATURES FOR PREDICTING COLLATERAL CIRCULATION IN PATIENTS WITH VASCULAR DISEASES. 2022 12 6761 27 X CHROMOSOME-WIDE ANALYSIS IDENTIFIES DNA METHYLATION SITES INFLUENCED BY CIGARETTE SMOKING. BACKGROUND: TOBACCO SMOKING IS A MAJOR CAUSE OF CHRONIC DISEASE WORLDWIDE. SMOKING MAY INDUCE CELLULAR AND MOLECULAR CHANGES INCLUDING EPIGENETIC MODIFICATION, WITH BOTH SHORT-TERM AND LONG-TERM MODIFICATION PATTERNS THAT MAY CONTRIBUTE TO PHENOTYPIC EXPRESSION OF DISEASES. RECENT EPIGENOME-WIDE ASSOCIATION STUDIES (EWAS) HAVE IDENTIFIED DOZENS OF SMOKING-RELATED DNA METHYLATION (DNAM) SITES. HOWEVER, THE X CHROMOSOMAL DNAM SITES HAVE BEEN LARGELY OVERLOOKED DUE TO A LACK OF AN ANALYTICAL FRAMEWORK FOR DEALING WITH THE SEX-DIMORPHIC DISTRIBUTION. TO IDENTIFY NOVEL SMOKING-RELATED DNAM SITES ON THE X CHROMOSOME, WE EXAMINED THE MODALITY OF EACH X CHROMOSOMAL DNAM SITE AND CONDUCTED A SEX-SPECIFIC ASSOCIATION STUDY OF CIGARETTE SMOKING. RESULTS: WE USED A DISCOVERY SAMPLE OF 139 MIDDLE-AGE TWINS, AND THREE REPLICATION SAMPLES OF 78 TWINS, 464 AND 333 UNRELATED INDIVIDUALS INCLUDING 47, 17, 22, AND 89 CURRENT SMOKERS, RESPECTIVELY. AFTER CORRECTION FOR MULTIPLE TESTING, THE TOP SMOKING-RELATED DNAM SITES IN BCOR AND TSC22D3 WERE SIGNIFICANTLY HYPERMETHYLATED AND HYPOMETHYLATED, RESPECTIVELY, AMONG CURRENT SMOKERS. THESE SMOKING-ASSOCIATED SITES WERE REPLICATED WITH META-ANALYSIS P-VALUES OF 9.17 X 10(-12) AND 1.61 X 10(-9). FOR BOTH SITES, THE SMOKING EFFECTS ON METHYLATION LEVELS WERE LARGER IN MALES THAN THAT IN FEMALES. CONCLUSIONS: OUR FINDINGS HIGHLIGHT THE IMPORTANCE OF INVESTIGATING X CHROMOSOME METHYLATION PATTERNS AND THEIR ASSOCIATIONS WITH ENVIRONMENTAL EXPOSURES AND DISEASE PHENOTYPES AND DEMONSTRATE A ROBUST STATISTICAL METHODOLOGY FOR SUCH STUDY. EXISTING EWAS OF HUMAN DISEASES SHOULD INCORPORATE THE X CHROMOSOMAL SITES TO COMPLETE A COMPREHENSIVE EPIGENOME-WIDE SCAN. 2016 13 6018 31 THE ASSOCIATION OF EPIGENETIC AGE ACCELERATION AND MULTIMORBIDITY AT AGE 90 IN THE WOMEN'S HEALTH INITIATIVE. BACKGROUND: EPIGENETIC AGE ACCELERATION (EAA), A MEASURE OF ACCELERATED BIOLOGICAL AGING, HAS BEEN ASSOCIATED WITH INCREASED RISK OF SEVERAL AGE-RELATED CHRONIC CONDITIONS. THIS IS THE FIRST STUDY TO PROSPECTIVELY EXAMINE THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN EAA AND BOTH MULTIMORBIDITY COUNT AND A WEIGHTED MULTIMORBIDITY SCORE AMONG LONG-LIVED POSTMENOPAUSAL WOMEN. METHODS: WE INCLUDED 1,951 WOMEN FROM THE WOMEN'S HEALTH INITIATIVE WHO COULD HAVE SURVIVED TO AGE 90. EAA WAS ESTIMATED USING THE HORVATH PAN-TISSUE, HANNUM, PHENOAGE AND GRIMAGE "CLOCKS." TWELVE CHRONIC CONDITIONS WERE INCLUDED IN THE MULTIMORBIDITY COUNT. THE MULTIMORBIDITY SCORE WAS WEIGHTED FOR EACH MORBIDITY'S RELATIONSHIP WITH MORTALITY IN THE STUDY POPULATION. USING MIXED-EFFECTS POISSON AND LINEAR REGRESSION MODELS THAT INCLUDED BASELINE COVARIATES ASSOCIATED WITH BOTH EAA AND MULTIMORBIDITY, WE ESTIMATED RELATIVE RISKS (RRS) AND 95% CONFIDENCE INTERVALS (CIS) FOR THE RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN EACH EAA MEASURE AT STUDY BASELINE WITH BOTH MULTIMORBIDITY COUNT AND WEIGHTED MULTIMORBIDITY SCORE AT AGE 90, RESPECTIVELY. RESULTS: FOR EVERY ONE-STANDARD DEVIATION INCREASE IN AGEACCELPHENO, THE RATE OF MULTIMORBIDITY ACCUMULATION INCREASED 6% (RR=1.06; 95% CI=1.01-1.12; P=0.025) AND THE MULTIMORBIDITY SCORE BY 7% (RR=1.07; 95% CI=1.01-1.13; P=0.014) FOR WOMEN WHO SURVIVED TO AGE 90. THE RESULTS FOR A ONE-STANDARD DEVIATION INCREASE IN AGEACCELHORVATH, AGEACCELHANNUM AND AGEACCELGRIM WITH MULTIMORBIDITY ACCUMULATION AND SCORE WERE WEAKER COMPARED TO AGEACCELPHENO, AND THE LATTER TWO DID NOT REACH STATISTICAL SIGNIFICANCE. CONCLUSION: AGEACCELPHENO AND AGEACCELHANNUM MAY PREDICT MULTIMORBIDITY COUNT AND SCORE AT AGE 90 IN OLDER WOMEN AND, THUS, MAY BE USEFUL AS A BIOMARKER PREDICTOR OF MULTIMORBIDITY BURDEN IN THE LAST DECADES OF LIFE. 2022 14 1514 34 DNA METHYLATION AND THE EPIGENETIC CLOCK IN RELATION TO PHYSICAL FRAILTY IN OLDER PEOPLE: THE LOTHIAN BIRTH COHORT 1936. BACKGROUND: THE BIOLOGICAL MECHANISMS UNDERLYING FRAILTY IN OLDER PEOPLE ARE POORLY UNDERSTOOD. THERE IS SOME EVIDENCE TO SUGGEST THAT DNA METHYLATION PATTERNS MAY BE ALTERED IN FRAIL INDIVIDUALS. METHODS: PARTICIPANTS WERE 791 PEOPLE AGED 70 YEARS FROM THE LOTHIAN BIRTH COHORT 1936. DNA METHYLATION WAS MEASURED IN WHOLE BLOOD. BIOLOGICAL AGE WAS ESTIMATED USING TWO MEASURES OF DNA METHYLATION-BASED AGE ACCELERATION-EXTRINSIC AND INTRINSIC EPIGENETIC AGE ACCELERATION. WE CARRIED OUT AN EPIGENOME-WIDE ASSOCIATION STUDY OF PHYSICAL FRAILTY, AS DEFINED BY THE FRIED PHENOTYPE. MULTINOMIAL LOGISTIC REGRESSION WAS USED TO CALCULATE RELATIVE RISK RATIOS FOR BEING PHYSICALLY FRAIL OR PRE-FRAIL ACCORDING TO EPIGENETIC AGE ACCELERATION. RESULTS: THERE WAS A SINGLE SIGNIFICANT (P = 1.16 X 10-7) ASSOCIATION IN THE EPIGENOME-WIDE ASSOCIATION STUDY COMPARING FRAIL VERSUS NOT FRAIL. THE SAME CPG WAS NOT SIGNIFICANT WHEN COMPARING PRE-FRAIL VERSUS NOT FRAIL. GREATER EXTRINSIC EPIGENETIC AGE ACCELERATION WAS ASSOCIATED WITH AN INCREASED RISK OF BEING PHYSICALLY FRAIL, BUT NOT OF BEING PRE-FRAIL. FOR A YEAR INCREASE IN EXTRINSIC EPIGENETIC AGE ACCELERATION, AGE- AND SEX-ADJUSTED RELATIVE RISK RATIOS (95% CI) FOR BEING PHYSICALLY FRAIL OR PRE-FRAIL WERE 1.06 (1.02, 1.10) AND 1.02 (1.00, 1.04), RESPECTIVELY. AFTER FURTHER ADJUSTMENT FOR SMOKING AND CHRONIC DISEASE, THE ASSOCIATION WITH PHYSICAL FRAILTY REMAINED SIGNIFICANT. INTRINSIC EPIGENETIC AGE ACCELERATION WAS NOT ASSOCIATED WITH PHYSICAL FRAILTY STATUS. CONCLUSIONS: PEOPLE WHO ARE BIOLOGICALLY OLDER, AS INDEXED BY GREATER EXTRINSIC EPIGENETIC AGE ACCELERATION, ARE MORE LIKELY TO BE PHYSICALLY FRAIL. FUTURE RESEARCH WILL NEED TO INVESTIGATE WHETHER EPIGENETIC AGE ACCELERATION PLAYS A CAUSAL ROLE IN THE ONSET OF PHYSICAL FRAILTY. 2018 15 3294 31 HIGH INCIDENCE OF MGMT AND RARBETA PROMOTER METHYLATION IN PRIMARY GLIOBLASTOMAS: ASSOCIATION WITH HISTOPATHOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS, INFLAMMATORY MEDIATORS AND CLINICAL OUTCOME. GLIOBLASTOMAS, THE MOST FREQUENT PRIMARY BRAIN TUMORS IN ADULTS, ARE CHARACTERIZED BY A HIGHLY AGGRESSIVE, INFLAMMATORY AND ANGIOGENIC PHENOTYPE. METHYLATION OF CPG ISLANDS IN CANCER-RELATED GENES MAY SERVE AS AN EPIGENETIC BIOMARKER FOR GLIOBLASTOMA DIAGNOSIS AND PROGNOSIS. THE AIM OF THIS STUDY WAS TO ANALYZE THE METHYLATION STATUS OF FOUR CRITICAL TUMOR-ASSOCIATED GENES (MGMT, RARBETA, RASSF1A, CDH13), AND INVESTIGATE POSSIBLE LINKS WITH INFLAMMATORY (INTERLEUKIN [IL]-6, IL-8) AND ANGIOGENIC MEDIATORS (VASCULAR ENDOTHELIAL GROWTH FACTOR [VEGF], CYCLOOXYGENASE [COX]-2) AND CLINICAL OUTCOME IN 23 GLIOMA SAMPLES (6 GRADE II ASTROCYTOMAS, 17 GRADE IV GLIOBLASTOMAS). RARBETA AND MGMT GENES WERE MORE FREQUENTLY METHYLATED IN 70.58% AND 58.8% OF GLIOBLASTOMAS, RESPECTIVELY. RASSF1A AND CDH13 DISPLAYED A SIMILAR METHYLATION FREQUENCY (23.52%) IN GLIOBLASTOMAS. NO GENE METHYLATION WAS OBSERVED IN GRADE II ASTROCYTOMAS. TUMOR GRADE CORRELATED POSITIVELY WITH MGMT AND RARBETA METHYLATION (P = 0.005 AND P = 0.019, RESPECTIVELY) AND THE EXTENT OF NECROSIS (P = 0.001 AND P = 0.003). INTERESTINGLY, THE MARKER OF CHRONIC INFLAMMATION, IL-6, WAS POSITIVELY ASSOCIATED WITH METHYLATION OF MGMT (P = 0.004), RARBETA (P = 0.002), AND RASSF1A (P = 0.0081) AS WELL AS THE TOTAL NUMBER OF METHYLATED GENES (P < 0.0001), INDICATING THE IMPORTANT ROLE OF IL-6 IN MAINTAINING PROMOTER METHYLATION OF THESE GENES. VEGF EXPRESSION CORRELATED POSITIVELY WITH MGMT AND RARBETA METHYLATION ALTHOUGH THESE RELATIONSHIPS WERE OF MARGINAL SIGNIFICANCE (P = 0.0679 AND P = 0.0757). KAPLAN-MEIER UNIVARIATE SURVIVAL ANALYSIS INDICATED AN UNFAVORABLE SURVIVAL PERIOD IN PATIENTS WITH MGMT METHYLATION COMPARED WITH THOSE WITHOUT METHYLATION (P = 0.0474). OUR STUDY HIGHLIGHTS THE IMPLICATION OF MGMT AND RARBETA METHYLATION IN THE AGGRESSIVE PHENOTYPE OF PRIMARY GLIOBLASTOMAS. THE ASSOCIATION OF MGMT METHYLATION WITH CLINICAL OUTCOME INDICATES ITS POTENTIAL PROGNOSTIC VALUE. 2010 16 2643 30 EPIGENOMIC ASSOCIATION ANALYSIS IDENTIFIES SMOKING-RELATED DNA METHYLATION SITES IN AFRICAN AMERICANS. CIGARETTE SMOKING IS AN ENVIRONMENTAL RISK FACTOR FOR MANY CHRONIC DISEASES, AND DISEASE RISK CAN OFTEN BE MANAGED BY SMOKING CONTROL. SMOKING CAN INDUCE CELLULAR AND MOLECULAR CHANGES, INCLUDING EPIGENETIC MODIFICATION, BUT THE SHORT- AND LONG-TERM EPIGENETIC MODIFICATIONS CAUSED BY CIGARETTE SMOKING AT THE GENE LEVEL HAVE NOT BEEN WELL UNDERSTOOD. RECENT STUDIES HAVE IDENTIFIED SMOKING-RELATED DNA METHYLATION (DNAM) SITES IN CAUCASIANS. TO DETERMINE WHETHER THE SAME DNAM SITES ASSOCIATE WITH SMOKING IN AFRICAN AMERICANS, AND TO IDENTIFY NOVEL SMOKING-RELATED DNAM SITES, WE CONDUCTED A METHYLOME-WIDE ASSOCIATION STUDY OF CIGARETTE SMOKING USING A DISCOVERY SAMPLE OF 972 AFRICAN AMERICANS, AND A REPLICATION SAMPLE OF 239 AFRICAN AMERICANS WITH TWO ARRAY-BASED METHODS. AMONG 15 DNAM SITES SIGNIFICANTLY ASSOCIATED WITH SMOKING AFTER CORRECTION FOR MULTIPLE TESTING IN OUR DISCOVERY SAMPLE, 5 DNAM SITES ARE REPLICATED IN AN INDEPENDENT COHORT, AND 14 SITES IN THE REPLICATION SAMPLE HAVE EFFECTS IN THE SAME DIRECTION AS IN THE DISCOVERY SAMPLE. THE TOP TWO SMOKING-RELATED DNAM SITES IN F2RL3 (FACTOR II RECEPTOR-LIKE 3) AND GPR15 (G-PROTEIN-COUPLED RECEPTOR 15) OBSERVED IN AFRICAN AMERICANS ARE CONSISTENT WITH PREVIOUS FINDINGS IN CAUCASIANS. THE ASSOCIATIONS BETWEEN THE REPLICATED DNAM SITES AND SMOKING REMAIN SIGNIFICANT AFTER ADJUSTING FOR GENETIC BACKGROUND. DESPITE THE DISTINCT GENETIC BACKGROUND BETWEEN AFRICAN AMERICANS AND CAUCASIANS, THE DNAM FROM THE TWO ETHNIC GROUPS SHARES COMMON ASSOCIATIONS WITH CIGARETTE SMOKING, WHICH SUGGESTS A COMMON MOLECULAR MECHANISM OF EPIGENETIC MODIFICATION INFLUENCED BY ENVIRONMENTAL EXPOSURE. 2013 17 1956 40 EPIGENETIC AGE IN PERIPHERAL BLOOD AMONG CHILDREN, ADOLESCENT, AND ADULT SURVIVORS OF CHILDHOOD CANCER. IMPORTANCE: CERTAIN CANCER THERAPIES ARE RISK FACTORS FOR EPIGENETIC AGE ACCELERATION (EAA) AMONG SURVIVORS OF CHILDHOOD CANCER, AND EAA IS ASSOCIATED WITH CHRONIC HEALTH CONDITIONS (CHCS). HOWEVER, SMALL NUMBERS OF YOUNGER SURVIVORS (AGED <20 YEARS) PREVIOUSLY EVALUATED HAVE LIMITED THE ABILITY TO CALCULATE EAA AMONG THIS AGE GROUP. OBJECTIVE: TO EVALUATE THE CHANGE RATE OF EPIGENETIC AGE (EA) AND EAA IN YOUNGER COMPARED WITH OLDER SURVIVORS AND THE POSSIBLE ASSOCIATION OF EAA WITH EARLY-ONSET OBESITY (AGED <20 YEARS), SEVERITY/BURDEN OF CHCS, AND LATE MORTALITY (>5 YEARS FROM CANCER DIAGNOSIS). DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: STUDY PARTICIPANTS WERE FROM THE ST JUDE LIFETIME COHORT, INITIATED IN 2007 WITH ONGOING FOLLOW-UP. THE PRESENT STUDY WAS CONDUCTED FROM APRIL 17, 2022, TO MARCH 23, 2023. SURVIVORS IN THIS COHORT OF EUROPEAN ANCESTRY WITH DNA METHYLATION DATA WERE INCLUDED. CROSS-SECTIONAL ANNUAL CHANGES IN EA AND EAA WERE COMPARED ACROSS 5 DIFFERENT CHRONOLOGIC AGE GROUPS: AGE 0 TO 9 (CHILDREN), 10 TO 19 (ADOLESCENTS), 20 TO 34 (YOUNGER ADULTS), 35 TO 49 (MIDDLE-AGED ADULTS), AND GREATER THAN OR EQUAL TO 50 (OLDER ADULTS) YEARS. LOGISTIC REGRESSION EVALUATED THE ASSOCIATION BETWEEN EAA AND EARLY-ONSET OBESITY OR SEVERITY/BURDEN OF CHCS. COX PROPORTIONAL HAZARDS REGRESSION ASSESSED THE ASSOCIATION BETWEEN EAA AND LATE MORTALITY. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: EARLY-ONSET OBESITY, SEVERITY/BURDEN OF CHCS (GRADED USING THE COMMON TERMINOLOGY CRITERIA FOR ADVERSE EVENTS (GRADE 1, MILD; 2, MODERATE; 3, SEVERE/DISABLING; 4, LIFE-THREATENING) AND WERE COMBINED INTO HIGH VS LOW SEVERITY/BURDEN BASED ON FREQUENCY AND GRADE), AND LATE MORTALITY WERE THE OUTCOMES BASED ON FOLLOW-UP UNTIL APRIL 2020. EXPANDED DNA METHYLATION PROFILING INCREASED THE NUMBER OF SURVIVORS YOUNGER THAN 20 YEARS (N = 690). EPIGENETIC AGE WAS CALCULATED PRIMARILY USING THE LEVINE CLOCK, AND EAA WAS DERIVED FROM LEAST SQUARES REGRESSION OF EA AGAINST CHRONOLOGIC AGE AND WAS STANDARDIZED TO A Z SCORE (LEVINE EEA). RESULTS: AMONG 2846 PARTICIPANTS (MEDIAN AGE, 30.3 [IQR, 9.3-41.5] YEARS; 53% MALES), THE CROSS-SECTIONAL ANNUAL CHANGE IN EA_LEVINE WAS HIGHER IN CHILDREN (1.63 YEARS) AND ADOLESCENTS (1.14 YEARS), AND THE ADJUSTED LEAST-SQUARES MEAN OF LEVINE EEA WAS LOWER IN CHILDREN (-0.22 YEARS) AND OLDER ADULTS (-1.70 YEARS). EACH 1-SD INCREASE IN LEVINE EEA WAS ASSOCIATED WITH INCREASED RISK OF DEVELOPING EARLY-ONSET OBESITY (ODDS RATIO [OR], 1.46; 95% CI, 1.19-1.78), HIGH SEVERITY/BURDEN OF CHCS (OR, 1.13; 95% CI, 1.03-1.24), AND LATE MORTALITY (HAZARD RATIO, 1.75; 95% CI, 1.35-2.26). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: THE FINDINGS OF THIS STUDY SUGGEST THAT EAA MEASURED IN CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENT SURVIVORS OF CHILDHOOD CANCER IS ASSOCIATED WITH EARLY-ONSET OBESITY, SEVERITY/BURDEN OF ALL CHCS, AND LATE MORTALITY. EVALUATING EAA MAY HELP IDENTIFY SURVIVORS OF CHILDHOOD CANCER AT INCREASED RISK FOR EARLY-ONSET OBESITY, MORBIDITY IN GENERAL, AND MORTALITY. 2023 18 6460 33 TIME TO RELAPSE IN CHRONIC LYMPHOCYTIC LEUKEMIA AND DNA-METHYLATION-BASED BIOLOGICAL AGE. CHRONIC LYMPHOCYTIC LEUKEMIA (CLL) IS A MATURE B CELL NEOPLASM WITH A PREDILECTION FOR OLDER INDIVIDUALS. WHILE PREVIOUS STUDIES HAVE IDENTIFIED EPIGENETIC SIGNATURES ASSOCIATED WITH CLL, WHETHER AGE-RELATED DNA METHYLATION CHANGES MODULATE CLL RELAPSE REMAINS ELUSIVE. IN THIS STUDY, WE EXAMINED THE ASSOCIATION BETWEEN EPIGENETIC AGE ACCELERATION AND TIME TO CLL RELAPSE IN A PUBLICLY AVAILABLE DATASET. DNA METHYLATION PROFILING OF 35 CLL PATIENTS PRIOR TO INITIATING CHEMOIMMUNOTHERAPY WAS PERFORMED USING THE INFINIUM HUMANMETHYLATION450 BEADCHIP. FOUR EPIGENETIC AGE ACCELERATION METRICS (INTRINSIC EPIGENETIC AGE ACCELERATION [IEAA], EXTRINSIC EPIGENETIC AGE ACCELERATION [EEAA], PHENOAGE ACCELERATION [PHENOAA], AND GRIMAGE ACCELERATION [GRIMAA]) WERE ESTIMATED FROM BLOOD DNA METHYLATION LEVELS. LINEAR, QUANTILE, AND LOGISTIC REGRESSION AND RECEIVER OPERATING CHARACTERISTIC CURVE ANALYSES WERE CONDUCTED TO ASSESS THE ASSOCIATION BETWEEN EACH EPIGENETIC AGE METRIC AND TIME TO CLL RELAPSE. EEAA (P = 0.011) AND PHENOAA (P = 0.046) WERE NEGATIVELY AND GRIMAA (P = 0.040) WAS POSITIVELY ASSOCIATED WITH TIME TO CLL RELAPSE. SIMULTANEOUS ASSESSMENT OF EEAA AND GRIMAA IN MALE PATIENTS DISTINGUISHED PATIENTS WHO RELAPSED EARLY FROM PATIENTS WHO RELAPSED LATER (P = 0.039). NO ASSOCIATIONS WERE OBSERVED WITH IEAA. THESE FINDINGS SUGGEST EPIGENETIC AGE ACCELERATION PRIOR TO CHEMOIMMUNOTHERAPY INITIATION IS ASSOCIATED WITH TIME TO CLL RELAPSE. OUR RESULTS PROVIDE NOVEL INSIGHT INTO THE ASSOCIATION BETWEEN AGE-RELATED DNA METHYLATION CHANGES AND CLL RELAPSE AND MAY SERVE HAS BIOMARKERS FOR TREATMENT RELAPSE, AND POTENTIALLY, TREATMENT SELECTION. 2023 19 1497 27 DNA METHYLATION AGE IS ACCELERATED IN ALCOHOL DEPENDENCE. ALCOHOL DEPENDENCE (ALC) IS A CHRONIC, RELAPSING DISORDER THAT INCREASES THE BURDEN OF CHRONIC DISEASE AND SIGNIFICANTLY CONTRIBUTES TO NUMEROUS PREMATURE DEATHS EACH YEAR. PREVIOUS RESEARCH SUGGESTS THAT CHRONIC, HEAVY ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION IS ASSOCIATED WITH DIFFERENTIAL DNA METHYLATION PATTERNS. IN ADDITION, DNA METHYLATION LEVELS AT CERTAIN CPG SITES HAVE BEEN CORRELATED WITH AGE. WE USED AN EPIGENETIC CLOCK TO INVESTIGATE THE POTENTIAL ROLE OF EXCESSIVE ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION IN EPIGENETIC AGING. WE EXPLORED THIS QUESTION IN FIVE INDEPENDENT COHORTS, INCLUDING DNA METHYLATION DATA DERIVED FROM DATASETS FROM BLOOD (N = 129, N = 329), LIVER (N = 92, N = 49), AND POSTMORTEM PREFRONTAL CORTEX (N = 46). ONE BLOOD DATASET AND ONE LIVER TISSUE DATASET OF INDIVIDUALS WITH ALC EXHIBITED POSITIVE AGE ACCELERATION (P < 0.0001 AND P = 0.0069, RESPECTIVELY), WHEREAS THE OTHER BLOOD AND LIVER TISSUE DATASETS BOTH EXHIBITED TRENDS OF POSITIVE AGE ACCELERATION THAT WERE NOT SIGNIFICANT (P = 0.83 AND P = 0.57, RESPECTIVELY). PREFRONTAL CORTEX TISSUE EXHIBITED A TREND OF NEGATIVE AGE ACCELERATION (P = 0.19). THESE RESULTS SUGGEST THAT EXCESSIVE ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION MAY BE ASSOCIATED WITH EPIGENETIC AGING IN A TISSUE-SPECIFIC MANNER AND WARRANTS FURTHER INVESTIGATION USING MULTIPLE TISSUE SAMPLES FROM THE SAME INDIVIDUALS. 2018 20 5957 36 TELOMERE LENGTH AND EPIGENETIC AGE ACCELERATION IN ADOLESCENTS WITH ANXIETY DISORDERS. EVIDENCE ON THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN GENETICS AND MENTAL HEALTH ARE FLOURISHING. HOWEVER, FEW STUDIES ARE EVALUATING EARLY BIOMARKERS THAT MIGHT LINK GENES, ENVIRONMENT, AND PSYCHOPATHOLOGY. WE AIMED TO STUDY TELOMERE LENGTH (TL) AND EPIGENETIC AGE ACCELERATION (AA) IN A COHORT OF ADOLESCENTS WITH AND WITHOUT ANXIETY DISORDERS (N = 234). WE EVALUATED A REPRESENTATIVE SUBSAMPLE OF PARTICIPANTS AT BASELINE AND AFTER 5 YEARS (N = 76) AND CATEGORIZED THEM ACCORDING TO THEIR ANXIETY DISORDER DIAGNOSIS AT BOTH TIME POINTS: (1) CONTROL GROUP (NO ANXIETY DISORDER, N = 18), (2) VARIABLE GROUP (ANXIETY DISORDER IN ONE EVALUATION, N = 38), AND (3) PERSISTENT GROUP (ANXIETY DISORDER AT BOTH TIME POINTS, N = 20). WE ASSESSED RELATIVE MEAN TL BY REAL-TIME QUANTITATIVE PCR AND DNA METHYLATION BY INFINIUM HUMANMETHYLATION450 BEADCHIP. WE CALCULATED AA USING THE HORVATH AGE ESTIMATION ALGORITHM AND ANALYZED DIFFERENCES AMONG GROUPS USING GENERALIZED LINEAR MIXED MODELS. THE PERSISTENT GROUP OF ANXIETY DISORDER DID NOT CHANGE TL OVER TIME (P = 0.495). THE VARIABLE GROUP HAD HIGHER BASELINE TL (P = 0.003) BUT NO ACCELERATED TL EROSION IN COMPARISON TO THE NON-ANXIETY CONTROL GROUP (P = 0.053). FURTHERMORE, THERE WERE NO DIFFERENCES IN AA AMONG GROUPS OVER TIME. OUR FINDINGS SUGGEST THAT ADOLESCENTS WITH CHRONIC ANXIETY DID NOT CHANGE TELOMERE LENGTH OVER TIME, WHICH COULD BE RELATED TO A DELAY IN NEURONAL DEVELOPMENT IN THIS PERIOD OF LIFE. 2021