1 5395 140 REDUCED EPIGENETIC AGE IN OLDER ADULTS WITH HIGH SENSE OF PURPOSE IN LIFE. PSYCHOSOCIAL RISK FACTORS HAVE BEEN LINKED WITH ACCELERATED EPIGENETIC AGING, BUT LITTLE IS KNOWN ABOUT WHETHER PSYCHOSOCIAL RESILIENCE FACTORS (EG, SENSE OF PURPOSE IN LIFE) MIGHT REDUCE EPIGENETIC AGE ACCELERATION. IN THIS STUDY, WE TESTED IF OLDER ADULTS WHO EXPERIENCE HIGH LEVELS OF PURPOSE MIGHT SHOW REDUCED EPIGENETIC AGE ACCELERATION. WE EVALUATED THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PURPOSE AND EPIGENETIC AGE ACCELERATION AS MEASURED BY 13 DNA METHYLATION (DNAM) "EPIGENETIC CLOCKS" ASSESSED IN 1 572 OLDER ADULTS FROM THE HEALTH AND RETIREMENT STUDY (MEAN AGE 70 YEARS). WE QUANTIFIED THE TOTAL ASSOCIATION BETWEEN PURPOSE AND DNAM AGE ACCELERATION AS WELL AS THE EXTENT TO WHICH THAT TOTAL ASSOCIATION MIGHT BE ATTRIBUTABLE TO DEMOGRAPHIC FACTORS, CHRONIC DISEASE, OTHER PSYCHOSOCIAL VARIABLES (EG, POSITIVE AFFECT), AND HEALTH-RELATED BEHAVIORS (HEAVY DRINKING, SMOKING, PHYSICAL ACTIVITY, AND BODY MASS INDEX [BMI]). PURPOSE IN LIFE WAS ASSOCIATED WITH REDUCED EPIGENETIC AGE ACCELERATION ACROSS 4 "SECOND-GENERATION" DNAM CLOCKS OPTIMIZED FOR PREDICTING HEALTH AND LONGEVITY (FALSE DISCOVERY RATE [FDR] Q < 0.0001: PHENOAGE, GRIMAGE, ZHANG EPIGENETIC MORTALITY INDEX; FDR Q < 0.05: DUNEDINPOAM). THESE ASSOCIATIONS WERE INDEPENDENT OF DEMOGRAPHIC AND PSYCHOSOCIAL FACTORS, BUT SUBSTANTIALLY ATTENUATED AFTER ADJUSTING FOR HEALTH-RELATED BEHAVIORS (DRINKING, SMOKING, PHYSICAL ACTIVITY, AND BMI). PURPOSE SHOWED NO SIGNIFICANT ASSOCIATION WITH 9 "FIRST-GENERATION" DNAM EPIGENETIC CLOCKS TRAINED ON CHRONOLOGICAL AGE. OLDER ADULTS WITH GREATER PURPOSE IN LIFE SHOW "YOUNGER" DNAM EPIGENETIC AGE ACCELERATION. THESE RESULTS MAY BE DUE IN PART TO ASSOCIATED DIFFERENCES IN HEALTH-RELATED BEHAVIORS. RESULTS SUGGEST NEW OPPORTUNITIES TO REDUCE BIOLOGICAL AGE ACCELERATION BY ENHANCING PURPOSE AND ITS BEHAVIORAL SEQUELAE IN LATE ADULTHOOD. 2023 2 2734 45 EXPLORING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN DNA METHYLATION AGE MEASURES AND PSYCHONEUROLOGICAL SYMPTOMS IN WOMEN WITH EARLY-STAGE BREAST CANCER. PURPOSE: THE EPIGENETIC CLOCK HAS BEEN ACKNOWLEDGED AS AN INDICATOR FOR MOLECULAR AGING, BUT FEW STUDIES HAVE EXAMINED POSSIBLE ASSOCIATIONS OF DNA METHYLATION (DNAM) AGE OR AGE ACCELERATION (AA) WITH SYMPTOM BURDEN IN INDIVIDUALS WHO ARE TREATED FOR CANCER. THIS STUDY EXPLORED THE ASSOCIATION OF DNAM AGE OR AA WITH PSYCHONEUROLOGICAL (PN) SYMPTOMS, INCLUDING COGNITIVE IMPAIRMENT, FATIGUE, SLEEP DISTURBANCES, PAIN, AND DEPRESSIVE SYMPTOMS, IN BREAST CANCER SURVIVORS OVER A 2-YEAR PERIOD. METHODS: WE MEASURED PN SYMPTOMS USING RELIABLE INSTRUMENTS AND DNAM LEVELS BY INFINIUM HUMANMETHYLATION450K BEADCHIP (N = 72). DNAM AGE WAS CALCULATED BY THE HORVATH, GRIM, AND HANNUM-BASED INTRINSIC AND EXTRINSIC AGE ESTIMATIONS. AA WAS DEFINED BY THE RESIDUAL REGRESSING ESTIMATED EPIGENETIC AGE ON CHRONOLOGICAL AGE. MIXED REGRESSION MODELS WERE FITTED FOR AA AND CHANGES IN AA TO STUDY THE ASSOCIATION OVER TIME. SEPARATE LINEAR REGRESSION MODELS AND A MIXED-EFFECTS MODEL WERE FITTED FOR AA AT EACH TIME POINT. RESULTS: HORVATH-AA, GRIM-AA, AND EXTRINSIC EPIGENETIC AA WERE SIGNIFICANTLY CHANGED OVER TIME, WHILE INTRINSIC EPIGENETIC AA DID NOT EXHIBIT ANY TEMPORAL CHANGES. INCREASED AA WAS ASSOCIATED WITH GREATER ANXIETY AND FATIGUE, AS WELL AS WORSE COGNITIVE MEMORY, ADJUSTING FOR RACE, BMI, INCOME, CHEMOTHERAPY, RADIATION THERAPY, AND CHRONOLOGICAL AGE. INCREASED DNAM AGE WAS ASSOCIATED WITH GREATER ANXIETY OVER 2 YEARS. CONCLUSION: OUR FINDINGS SUGGEST DNAM AGE AND AA MAY BE ASSOCIATED WITH PN SYMPTOMS OVER THE COURSE OF CANCER TREATMENT AND SURVIVORSHIP. SOME PN SYMPTOMS MAY BE AMENABLE TO PREVENTIVE INTERVENTIONS TARGETED TO EPIGENETIC CLOCKS THAT INFLUENCE AGING-ASSOCIATED PROCESSES. 2022 3 1343 42 DETECTING CORD BLOOD CELL TYPE-SPECIFIC EPIGENETIC ASSOCIATIONS WITH GESTATIONAL DIABETES MELLITUS AND EARLY CHILDHOOD GROWTH. BACKGROUND: EPIGENOME-WIDE ASSOCIATION STUDIES (EWAS) HAVE PROVIDED OPPORTUNITIES TO UNDERSTAND THE ROLE OF EPIGENETIC MECHANISMS IN DEVELOPMENT AND PATHOPHYSIOLOGY OF MANY CHRONIC DISEASES. HOWEVER, AN IMPORTANT LIMITATION OF CONVENTIONAL EWAS IS THAT PROFILES OF EPIGENETIC VARIABILITY ARE OFTEN OBTAINED IN SAMPLES OF MIXED CELL TYPES. HERE, WE AIM TO ASSESS WHETHER CHANGES IN CORD BLOOD DNA METHYLATION (DNAM) ASSOCIATED WITH GESTATIONAL DIABETES MELLITUS (GDM) EXPOSURE AND EARLY CHILDHOOD GROWTH MARKERS OCCUR IN A CELL TYPE-SPECIFIC MANNER. RESULTS: WE ANALYZED 275 CORD BLOOD SAMPLES COLLECTED AT DELIVERY FROM A PROSPECTIVE PRE-BIRTH COHORT WITH GENOME-WIDE DNAM PROFILED BY THE ILLUMINA METHYLATIONEPIC ARRAY. WE ESTIMATED PROPORTIONS OF SEVEN COMMON CELL TYPES IN EACH SAMPLE USING A CORD BLOOD-SPECIFIC DNAM REFERENCE PANEL. LEVERAGING A RECENTLY DEVELOPED APPROACH NAMED CELLDMC, WE PERFORMED CELL TYPE-SPECIFIC EWAS TO IDENTIFY CPG LOCI SIGNIFICANTLY ASSOCIATED WITH GDM, OR 3-YEAR-OLD BODY MASS INDEX (BMI) Z-SCORE. A TOTAL OF 1410 CPG LOCI DISPLAYED SIGNIFICANT CELL TYPE-SPECIFIC DIFFERENCES IN METHYLATION LEVEL BETWEEN 23 GDM CASES AND 252 CONTROLS WITH A FALSE DISCOVERY RATE < 0.05. GENE ONTOLOGY ENRICHMENT ANALYSIS INDICATED THAT LDL TRANSPORTATION EMERGED FROM CPG SPECIFICALLY IDENTIFIED FROM B-CELLS DNAM ANALYSES AND THE MITOGEN-ACTIVATED PROTEIN KINASE PATHWAY EMERGED FROM CPG SPECIFICALLY IDENTIFIED FROM NATURAL KILLER CELLS DNAM ANALYSES. IN ADDITION, WE IDENTIFIED FOUR AND SIX LOCI ASSOCIATED WITH 3-YEAR-OLD BMI Z-SCORE THAT WERE SPECIFIC TO CD8+ T-CELLS AND MONOCYTES, RESPECTIVELY. BY PERFORMING GENOME-WIDE PERMUTATION TESTS, WE VALIDATED THAT MOST OF OUR DETECTED SIGNALS HAD LOW FALSE POSITIVE RATES. CONCLUSION: COMPARED TO CONVENTIONAL EWAS ADJUSTING FOR THE EFFECTS OF CELL TYPE HETEROGENEITY, THE PROPOSED APPROACH BASED ON CELL TYPE-SPECIFIC EWAS COULD PROVIDE ADDITIONAL BIOLOGICALLY MEANINGFUL ASSOCIATIONS BETWEEN CPG METHYLATION, PRENATAL MATERNAL GDM OR 3-YEAR-OLD BMI. WITH CAREFUL VALIDATION, THESE FINDINGS MAY PROVIDE NEW INSIGHTS INTO THE PATHOGENESIS, PROGRAMMING, AND CONSEQUENCES OF RELATED CHILDHOOD METABOLIC DYSREGULATION. THEREFORE, WE PROPOSE THAT CELL TYPE-SPECIFIC ANALYSES ARE WORTH CAUTIOUS EXPLORATIONS. 2021 4 2150 52 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 20 INDIVIDUALS IN EACH COMPARISON GROUP, AND EXAMINED ONE OF THE 19 CONDITIONS CONSIDERED. FIRST, WE ASSESSED WHETHER THE ASSOCIATIONS IDENTIFIED IN OUR STUDY WERE REPORTED IN PREVIOUS STUDIES. WE IDENTIFIED 69 ASSOCIATIONS BETWEEN CPGS AND THE PREVALENCE OF 4 CONDITIONS, OF WHICH 58 WERE NEWLY DESCRIBED. THE CONDITIONS WERE BREAST CANCER, CHRONIC KIDNEY DISEASE, ISCHEMIC HEART DISEASE, AND TYPE 2 DIABETES MELLITUS. WE ALSO UNCOVERED 64 CPGS THAT ASSOCIATED WITH THE INCIDENCE OF 2 DISEASE STATES (COPD AND TYPE 2 DIABETES), OF WHICH 56 WERE NOT REPORTED IN THE SURVEYED LITERATURE. SECOND, WE ASSESSED REPLICATION ACROSS EXISTING STUDIES, WHICH WAS DEFINED AS THE REPORTING OF AT LEAST 1 COMMON SITE IN >2 STUDIES THAT EXAMINED THE SAME CONDITION. ONLY 6/19 DISEASE STATES HAD EVIDENCE OF SUCH REPLICATION. THE LIMITATIONS OF THIS STUDY INCLUDE THE NONCONSIDERATION OF MEDICATION DATA AND A POTENTIAL LACK OF GENERALIZABILITY TO INDIVIDUALS THAT ARE NOT OF SCOTTISH AND EUROPEAN ANCESTRY. CONCLUSIONS: WE DISCOVERED OVER 100 ASSOCIATIONS BETWEEN BLOOD METHYLATION SITES AND COMMON DISEASE STATES, INDEPENDENTLY OF MAJOR CONFOUNDING RISK FACTORS, AND A NEED FOR GREATER STANDARDISATION AMONG EWAS ON HUMAN DISEASE. 2023 12 2149 27 EPIGENETIC MARKERS TO PREDICT CONVERSION FROM GESTATIONAL DIABETES TO TYPE 2 DIABETES. CONTEXT: LIFESTYLE FACTORS MEDIATE EPIGENETIC CHANGES THAT CAN CAUSE CHRONIC DISEASES. ALTHOUGH ANIMAL AND LABORATORY STUDIES LINK EPIGENETIC CHANGES TO DIABETES, EPIGENETIC INFORMATION IN WOMEN WITH GESTATIONAL DIABETES (GDM) AND TYPE 2 DIABETES IS LACKING. OBJECTIVE: THIS STUDY SOUGHT TO MEASURE EPIGENETIC MARKERS ACROSS PREGNANCY AND EARLY POSTPARTUM AND IDENTIFY MARKERS THAT COULD BE USED AS PREDICTORS FOR CONVERSION FROM GDM TO TYPE 2 DIABETES. DESIGN: GLOBAL HISTONE H3 DIMETHYLATION WAS MEASURED IN WHITE BLOOD CELLS AT THREE TIME POINTS: 30 WK GESTATION, 8-10 WK POSTPARTUM, AND 20 WK POSTPARTUM, FROM FOUR GROUPS OF WOMEN WITH AND WITHOUT DIABETES. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: A TOTAL OF 39 PARTICIPANTS (SIX TO NINE IN EACH GROUP) WERE RECRUITED INCLUDING: NONDIABETIC WOMEN; WOMEN WITH GDM WHO DEVELOPED POSTPARTUM TYPE 2 DIABETES; WOMEN WITH GDM WITHOUT POSTPARTUM TYPE 2 DIABETES; AND WOMEN WITH TYPE 2 DIABETES. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: PERCENTAGES OF DIMETHYLATION OF H3 HISTONES RELATIVE TO TOTAL H3 HISTONE METHYLATION WERE COMPARED BETWEEN DIABETIC/NONDIABETIC GROUPS USING APPROPRIATE COMPARATIVE STATISTICS. RESULTS: H3K27 DIMETHYLATION WAS 50-60% LOWER AT 8-10 AND 20 WK POSTPARTUM IN WOMEN WITH GDM WHO DEVELOPED TYPE 2 DIABETES, COMPARED WITH NONDIABETIC WOMEN. H3K4 DIMETHYLATION WAS 75% LOWER AT 8-10 WK POSTPARTUM IN WOMEN WITH GDM WHO SUBSEQUENTLY DEVELOPED TYPE 2 DIABETES COMPARED WITH WOMEN WHO HAD GDM WHO DID NOT. CONCLUSIONS: THE PERCENTAGE OF DIMETHYLATION OF HISTONES H3K27 AND H3K4 VARIED WITH DIABETIC STATE AND HAS THE POTENTIAL AS A PREDICTIVE TOOL TO IDENTIFY WOMEN WHO WILL CONVERT FROM GDM TO TYPE 2 DIABETES. 2016 13 1955 48 EPIGENETIC AGE ACCELERATION PREDICTS CANCER, CARDIOVASCULAR, AND ALL-CAUSE MORTALITY IN A GERMAN CASE COHORT. BACKGROUND: PREVIOUS STUDIES HAVE DEVELOPED MODELS PREDICTING METHYLATION AGE FROM DNA METHYLATION IN BLOOD AND OTHER TISSUES (EPIGENETIC CLOCK) AND SUGGESTED THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN DNA METHYLATION AND CHRONOLOGICAL AGES AS A MARKER OF HEALTHY AGING. THE GOAL OF THIS STUDY WAS TO CONFIRM AND EXPAND SUCH OBSERVATIONS BY INVESTIGATING WHETHER DIFFERENT CONCEPTS OF THE EPIGENETIC CLOCKS IN A POPULATION-BASED COHORT ARE ASSOCIATED WITH CANCER, CARDIOVASCULAR, AND ALL-CAUSE MORTALITY. RESULTS: DNA METHYLATION AGE WAS ESTIMATED IN A COHORT OF 1863 OLDER PEOPLE, AND THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN AGE PREDICTED BY DNA METHYLATION AND CHRONOLOGICAL AGE (DELTAAGE) WAS CALCULATED. A CASE-COHORT DESIGN AND WEIGHTED PROPORTIONAL COX HAZARD MODELS WERE USED TO ESTIMATE ASSOCIATIONS OF DELTAAGE WITH CANCER, CARDIOVASCULAR, AND ALL-CAUSE MORTALITY. HAZARD RATIOS FOR DELTAAGE (PER 5 YEARS) CALCULATED USING THE EPIGENETIC CLOCK DEVELOPED BY HORVATH WERE 1.23 (95 % CI 1.10-1.38) FOR ALL-CAUSE MORTALITY, 1.22 (95 % CI 1.03-1.45) FOR CANCER MORTALITY, AND 1.19 (95 % CI 0.98-1.43) FOR CARDIOVASCULAR MORTALITY AFTER ADJUSTMENT FOR BATCH EFFECTS, AGE, SEX, EDUCATIONAL LEVEL, HISTORY OF CHRONIC DISEASES, HYPERTENSION, SMOKING STATUS, BODY MASS INDEX, AND LEUCOCYTE DISTRIBUTION. ASSOCIATIONS WERE SIMILAR BUT WEAKER FOR DELTAAGE CALCULATED USING THE EPIGENETIC CLOCK DEVELOPED BY HANNUM. CONCLUSIONS: THESE RESULTS SHOW THAT AGE ACCELERATION IN TERMS OF THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN AGE PREDICTED BY DNA METHYLATION AND CHRONOLOGICAL AGE IS AN INDEPENDENT PREDICTOR OF ALL-CAUSE AND CAUSE-SPECIFIC MORTALITY AND MAY BE USEFUL AS A GENERAL MARKER OF HEALTHY AGING. 2016 14 713 41 CADMIUM EXPOSURE AND AGE-ASSOCIATED DNA METHYLATION CHANGES IN NON-SMOKING WOMEN FROM NORTHERN THAILAND. DNA METHYLATION CHANGES WITH AGE, AND MAY SERVE AS A BIOMARKER OF AGING. CADMIUM (CD) MODIFIES CELLULAR PROCESSES THAT PROMOTE AGING AND DISRUPTS METHYLATION GLOBALLY. WHETHER CD MODIFIES AGING PROCESSES BY INFLUENCING ESTABLISHMENT OF AGE-ASSOCIATED METHYLATION MARKS IS CURRENTLY UNKNOWN. IN THIS PILOT STUDY, WE CHARACTERIZED METHYLATION PROFILES IN > 450 000 CPG SITES IN 40 NON-SMOKING WOMEN (AGE 40-80) DIFFERENTIALLY EXPOSED TO ENVIRONMENTAL CD FROM THAILAND. BASED ON SPECIFIC GRAVITY ADJUSTED URINARY CD, WE CLASSIFIED THEM AS HIGH (HE) AND LOW (LE) EXPOSED AND AGE-MATCHED WITHIN 5 YEARS. URINARY CD WAS DEFINED AS BELOW 2 MICROG/L IN THE LE GROUP. WE PREDICTED EPIGENETIC AGE (DNAM-AGE) USING TWO PUBLISHED METHODS BY HORVATH AND HANNUM AND EXAMINED THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN EPIGENETIC AGE AND CHRONOLOGIC AGE (DELTAAGE). WE ASSESSED DIFFERENCES BY CD EXPOSURE USING LINEAR MIXED MODELS ADJUSTED FOR ESTIMATED WHITE BLOOD CELL PROPORTIONS, BMI, AND URINARY CREATININE. WE IDENTIFIED 213 AGE-ASSOCIATED CPG SITES IN OUR POPULATION (P < 10(-4)). COUNTERINTUITIVELY, THE MEAN DELTAAGE WAS SMALLER IN HE VS. LE (HANNUM: 3.6 VS. 7.6 YEARS, P = 0.0093; HORVATH: 2.4 VS. 4.5 YEARS, P = 0.1308). THE CD EXPOSED GROUP WAS ASSOCIATED WITH CHANGES IN METHYLATION (P < 0.05) AT 12, 8, AND 20 AGE-ASSOCIATED SITES IDENTIFIED IN OUR POPULATION, HANNUM, AND HORVATH. FROM THE RESULTS OF THIS PILOT STUDY, ELEVATED CD EXPOSURE IS ASSOCIATED WITH METHYLATION CHANGES AT AGE-ASSOCIATED SITES AND SMALLER DIFFERENCES BETWEEN DNAM-AGE AND CHRONOLOGIC AGE, IN CONTRAST TO EXPECTED AGE-ACCELERATING EFFECTS. CD MAY MODIFY EPIGENETIC AGING, AND BIOMARKERS OF AGING WARRANT FURTHER INVESTIGATION WHEN EXAMINING CD AND ITS RELATIONSHIP WITH CHRONIC DISEASE AND MORTALITY. 2017 15 1585 31 DNA METHYLATION PROFILING IDENTIFIES EPIGENETIC DIFFERENCES BETWEEN DIABETES PATIENTS WITH ESRD AND DIABETES PATIENTS WITHOUT NEPHROPATHY. WE IDENTIFIED POTENTIAL EPIGENETIC BIOMARKERS FOR CHRONIC KIDNEY DISEASE PROGRESSION BY COMPARING SITE-SPECIFIC DNA METHYLATION LEVELS IN MORE THAN 14,000 GENES BETWEEN AFRICAN AMERICAN AND HISPANIC DIABETES PATIENTS WITH END STAGE RENAL DISEASE (ESRD) AND DIABETES PATIENTS WITHOUT NEPHROPATHY. WE IDENTIFIED 187 GENES THAT ARE DIFFERENTIALLY METHYLATED BETWEEN THE TWO GROUPS ON AT LEAST TWO CPG SITES IN EACH GENE IN DNA EXTRACTED FROM SALIVA. OF THE 187 GENES WHOSE MEAN METHYLATION LEVELS DIFFERED BETWEEN THE TWO GROUPS, 39 GENES, OR CLOSELY RELATED GENE FAMILY MEMBERS, HAVE BEEN REPORTED TO BE INVOLVED IN KIDNEY DEVELOPMENT OR DIABETIC NEPHROPATHY, PER SE, OR HAVE BEEN ASSOCIATED WITH DIALYSIS-INDUCED CHANGES IN GENE EXPRESSION IN PERIPHERAL BLOOD CELLS. THE FACT THAT SUCH A SUBSTANTIAL FRACTION (21%) OF THE 187 CANDIDATE GENES HAVE BEEN IMPLICATED PREVIOUSLY THROUGH GENOME ASSOCIATION OR TRANSCRIPTION PROFILING STUDIES SUGGESTS STRONGLY THAT THE DNA METHYLATION DIFFERENCES WE OBSERVE ARE ASSOCIATED WITH DISEASE PREDISPOSITION AND/OR TREATMENT. THE FACT THAT THESE NEPHROPATHY AND/OR DIALYSIS-ASSOCIATED DIFFERENCES BETWEEN PATIENTS WERE IDENTIFIED IN DNA EXTRACTED FROM SALIVA OFFERS PROOF-OF-PRINCIPLE THAT INTER-INDIVIDUAL EPIGENETIC DIFFERENCES MAY PROVE USEFUL AS PREDICTIVE BIOMARKERS OF DISEASE SUSCEPTIBILITY. 2011 16 1956 48 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 17 3884 53 KIDNEY DISEASE IN DIABETES. PERSONS WITH DIABETES MAKE UP THE FASTEST GROWING GROUP OF KIDNEY DIALYSIS AND TRANSPLANT RECIPIENTS IN THE UNITED STATES. IN 1985, WHEN THE FIRST EDITION OF DIABETES IN AMERICA WAS PUBLISHED, 20,961 PERSONS WITH DIABETES WERE RECEIVING RENAL REPLACEMENT THERAPY, REPRESENTING 29% OF ALL NEW CASES OF END-STAGE RENAL DISEASE (ESRD). BY 2012, 239,837 PERSONS WITH DIABETES WERE ON RENAL REPLACEMENT THERAPY, ACCOUNTING FOR 44% OF ALL NEW ESRD CASES. THE INCREASED COUNT REFLECTS GROWTH IN DIABETES PREVALENCE AND INCREASED ACCESS TO DIALYSIS AND TRANSPLANTATION. THOSE WITH A PRIMARY DIAGNOSIS OF DIABETES HAVE LOWER SURVIVAL RELATIVE TO OTHER CAUSES OF ESRD, PRIMARILY BECAUSE OF THE COEXISTENT MORBIDITY ASSOCIATED WITH DIABETES, PARTICULARLY CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASES (CVD). WHILE SURVIVAL ON DIALYSIS HAS SLOWLY IMPROVED ACROSS MODALITIES SINCE THE 1990S, IT REMAINS REDUCED IN PERSONS WITH DIABETES, HALF OF WHOM DIE WITHIN 3 YEARS OF BEGINNING DIALYSIS IN THE UNITED STATES. SIMILAR TO PERSONS WITH ESRD IN GENERAL, THE LEADING CAUSES OF DEATH AMONG ADULTS WITH DIABETES WHO STARTED DIALYSIS IN 1995-2009 WERE CVD (58% OF THE DEATHS) AND INFECTIONS (13% OF THE DEATHS). KIDNEY TRANSPLANT RECIPIENTS WITH DIABETES HAVE MUCH BETTER SURVIVAL THAN THOSE ON DIALYSIS, INDICATING A SIGNIFICANT IMPACT OF THE TYPE OF RENAL REPLACEMENT THERAPY (TRANSPLANT VERSUS DIALYSIS) ON LONG-TERM SURVIVAL. KIDNEY FAILURE AFFECTS ABOUT 1% OF PERSONS WITH DIABETES IN THE UNITED STATES. A CONSIDERABLY HIGHER PROPORTION, ABOUT 40%, HAVE LESS SEVERE KIDNEY DISEASE. SINCE THE SECOND EDITION OF DIABETES IN AMERICA WAS PUBLISHED IN 1995, A WEALTH OF NEW INFORMATION HAS CONTRIBUTED SUBSTANTIALLY TO THE UNDERSTANDING OF KIDNEY DISEASE ASSOCIATED WITH DIABETES. IN 2002, THE NATIONAL KIDNEY FOUNDATION'S KIDNEY DISEASE OUTCOME QUALITY INITIATIVE PUBLISHED A UNIFORM DEFINITION OF CHRONIC KIDNEY DISEASE (CKD) AND CLASSIFICATION OF ITS STAGES IRRESPECTIVE OF UNDERLYING CAUSE, THUS PROVIDING A COMMON LANGUAGE FOR DEFINING BOTH THE SEVERITY AND PROGNOSIS OF KIDNEY DISEASE. THE DEFINITION AND CLASSIFICATION OF CKD WERE SUBSEQUENTLY UPDATED AND REFINED BY THE KIDNEY DISEASE: IMPROVING GLOBAL OUTCOMES IN 2012. ACCORDINGLY, CKD IS CLASSIFIED BASED ON BOTH ALBUMINURIA AND GLOMERULAR FILTRATION RATE (GFR) CATEGORIES, AND TOGETHER WITH KIDNEY FAILURE, THESE CONDITIONS ARE COLLECTIVELY REFERRED TO AS CKD, REGARDLESS OF ETIOLOGY. IN ADDITION, THE KIDNEY DISEASE: IMPROVING GLOBAL OUTCOMES RECOMMENDS USING EQUATIONS TO ESTIMATE GFR (EGFR), WHICH INCLUDE THE ROUTINELY OBTAINED VARIABLES SERUM CREATININE, AGE, SEX, AND RACE/ETHNICITY. THE USE OF SERUM CYSTATIN C, AN ENDOGENOUS FILTRATION MARKER LESS INFLUENCED THAN SERUM CREATININE BY VARIATIONS IN MUSCLE MASS, DIET, AND TUBULAR SECRETION, HAS EMERGED AS AN ALTERNATIVE OR AN ADJUNCT TO SERUM CREATININE-BASED EQUATIONS, PARTICULARLY IN PERSONS WITH DIABETES, IN WHOM EARLY KIDNEY DISEASE IS OFTEN CHARACTERIZED BY ELEVATED GFR. SINCE THE LATE 1990S, NEW MOLECULAR MECHANISMS HAVE BEEN DEFINED THAT ARE HELPING TO EXPLAIN THE DEVELOPMENT AND PROGRESSION OF DIABETIC KIDNEY DISEASE. GLOMERULAR STRUCTURAL LESIONS WERE FOUND TO EXPLAIN 95% OF THE VARIABILITY IN ALBUMIN EXCRETION AND 78% OF GFR VARIABILITY. THE LATTER PERCENTAGE INCREASED TO 92% BY ADDING INDICES OF GLOMERULAR-TUBULAR JUNCTION ABNORMALITIES AND INTERSTITIAL EXPANSION TO THE REGRESSION MODELS. PODOCYTE INJURY APPEARS TO PLAY AN ESSENTIAL ROLE IN THE PROGRESSION OF DIABETIC NEPHROPATHY. IN PERSONS WITH EITHER TYPE 1 OR TYPE 2 DIABETES, PODOCYTE CHANGES MAY OCCUR EVEN BEFORE THE INCREASE IN ALBUMINURIA, SUGGESTING THAT DIABETES ITSELF MAY INDUCE PODOCYTE ALTERATIONS. MUCH HAS ALSO BEEN WRITTEN ABOUT THE PROGNOSTIC IMPLICATIONS OF CKD. ELEVATED ALBUMINURIA AND LOW GFR ARE ASSOCIATED WITH ESRD, FATAL AND NONFATAL CVD, AND ALL-CAUSE MORTALITY. A META-ANALYSIS OF 1,024,977 PARTICIPANTS (NEARLY 13% WITH DIABETES) FROM 30 GENERAL POPULATION AND HIGH-RISK CARDIOVASCULAR COHORTS AND 13 CKD COHORTS INDICATED THAT WHILE THE ABSOLUTE RISKS FOR ALL-CAUSE AND CVD MORTALITY ARE HIGHER IN THE PRESENCE OF DIABETES, THE RELATIVE RISKS OF ESRD OR DEATH BY EGFR AND ALBUMINURIA ARE SIMILAR WITH OR WITHOUT DIABETES. THESE FINDINGS UNDERSCORE THE IMPORTANCE OF KIDNEY DISEASE PER SE AS A PREDICTOR OF IMPORTANT CLINICAL OUTCOMES, REGARDLESS OF THE UNDERLYING CAUSE OF KIDNEY DISEASE. NEW BIOMARKERS OF DIABETIC KIDNEY DISEASE APPEAR TO HAVE ADDITIONAL PROGNOSTIC INFORMATION BEYOND THAT PROVIDED BY ALBUMINURIA. THESE MARKERS INCLUDE KIDNEY INJURY MOLECULE 1, LIVER FATTY ACID-BINDING PROTEIN, N-ACETYL-BETA-D-GLUCOSAMINIDASE, NEUTROPHIL GELATINASE-ASSOCIATED LIPOCALIN, BETA-TRACE PROTEIN, BETA(2)-MICROGLOBULIN, AND TUMOR NECROSIS FACTOR RECEPTORS 1 AND 2. MANY CONCEPTS ABOUT RISK FACTORS FOR CKD ILLUSTRATED IN THIS CHAPTER HAVE NOT CHANGED SINCE 1995, AND WHERE THEY HAVE, THOSE CHANGES ARE DISCUSSED. IN PARTICULAR, MAJOR ADVANCES HAVE BEEN MADE IN ELUCIDATING THE GENETIC AND EPIGENETIC COMPLEXITY OF CKD, WHICH CONTRIBUTED TO DEFINING CELLULAR METABOLIC MEMORY AND THE UNDERSTANDING OF THE LONGLASTING EFFECTS OF STRICT GLYCEMIC CONTROL OBSERVED IN PERSONS WITH TYPE 1 DIABETES OR TYPE 2 DIABETES. IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANAGEMENT OF PERSONS WITH DIABETES AND CKD HAVE EXTENDED THE TIME COURSE FROM ONSET OF SEVERE ALBUMINURIA TO ESRD AND REDUCED THE OCCURRENCE OF CVD. IN TYPE 1 DIABETES, THE COMBINED DIABETES CONTROL AND COMPLICATIONS TRIAL (DCCT) AND ITS LONG-TERM FOLLOW-UP, THE EPIDEMIOLOGY OF DIABETES INTERVENTIONS AND COMPLICATIONS (EDIC) OBSERVATIONAL STUDY, INDICATED THAT INTENSIVE EARLY METABOLIC CONTROL REDUCED THE RISK OF IMPAIRED GFR BY 50% AND OF CVD OUTCOMES BY 42%, WITH A SPECIFIC 57% DECREASE IN MYOCARDIAL INFARCTION, STROKE, OR DEATH FROM CVD, EFFECTS THAT WERE PARTLY MEDIATED BY THE REDUCED INCIDENCE OF DIABETIC KIDNEY DISEASE. AMONG PERSONS WITH TYPE 2 DIABETES, A META-ANALYSIS OF RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIALS INDICATED THAT MORE INTENSIVE GLYCEMIC CONTROL (GLYCOSYLATED HEMOGLOBIN [A1C] <7%) WAS ASSOCIATED WITH A SIGNIFICANT 10% REDUCTION IN ALBUMINURIA BUT HAD NO EFFECTS ON MORTALITY, KIDNEY FAILURE, OR OTHER VASCULAR OUTCOMES. THE ACTION TO CONTROL CARDIOVASCULAR RISK IN DIABETES (ACCORD) TRIAL, TARGETING AN A1C LEVEL <6.0% IN THE INTENSIVE INTERVENTION ARM, REPORTED AN INCREASED RISK OF CVD DEATH FOR INTENSIVE VERSUS CONVENTIONAL GLYCEMIC CONTROL, ALTHOUGH IT REMAINS UNCLEAR WHETHER THIS EFFECT WAS RELATED TO MORE HYPOGLYCEMIC EPISODES, THE USE OF ADDITIONAL HYPOGLYCEMIC MEDICINES, OR TO THE TARGET GLYCEMIC LEVEL ITSELF. LIKEWISE, THE MODEST GAINS IN INTERMEDIATE OUTCOMES IN THE INTENSIVE TREATMENT ARMS OF THE ACTION IN DIABETES AND VASCULAR DISEASE: PRETERAX AND DIAMICRON MODIFIED RELEASE CONTROLLED EVALUATION (ADVANCE) AND THE VETERANS AFFAIRS DIABETES (VADT) TRIAL WERE COUNTERBALANCED BY A TWOFOLD TO THREEFOLD HIGHER RISK OF SEVERE HYPOGLYCEMIA. TOGETHER, THESE TRIALS INDICATE THAT GLYCEMIC CONTROL IS EXTREMELY USEFUL UP TO A POINT, BUT MORE AGGRESSIVE GLYCEMIC CONTROL MAY BE HARMFUL. SIMILARLY, FOR BLOOD PRESSURE CONTROL, 2014-2015 RECOMMENDATIONS BY THE GUIDELINE-WRITING GROUPS ENDORSE LESS INTENSIVE AND MORE INDIVIDUALIZED BLOOD PRESSURE TARGETS FOR DIABETES AND CKD THAN IN THE PAST. PERSONS WITH DIABETES AND CKD REQUIRE MULTIDISCIPLINARY MANAGEMENT INVOLVING A COMBINATION OF TREATMENTS AND BEHAVIORAL ADJUSTMENTS TO DELAY PROGRESSION OF CKD AND TO PREVENT THE ASSOCIATED COMPLICATIONS. THE STENO-2 STUDY, A LANDMARK PROSPECTIVE, RANDOMIZED TRIAL IN DENMARK, DEMONSTRATED THAT COMPARED WITH CONVENTIONAL TREATMENT, INTENSIVE MULTIFACTORIAL INTERVENTION LED TO 46% LOWER DEATH RATE, 56% LESS SEVERE ALBUMINURIA, 43% LOWER INCIDENCE OF DIABETIC RETINOPATHY, AND 47% LOWER INCIDENCE OF AUTONOMIC NEUROPATHY DURING THE 13.3-YEAR STUDY PERIOD. 2018 18 6112 42 THE EPIGENETIC CLOCK AS A PREDICTOR OF DISEASE AND MORTALITY RISK: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW AND META-ANALYSIS. BACKGROUND: AGEING IS ONE OF THE PRINCIPAL RISK FACTORS FOR MANY CHRONIC DISEASES. HOWEVER, THERE IS CONSIDERABLE BETWEEN-PERSON VARIATION IN THE RATE OF AGEING AND INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES IN THEIR SUSCEPTIBILITY TO DISEASE AND DEATH. EPIGENETIC MECHANISMS MAY PLAY A ROLE IN HUMAN AGEING, AND DNA METHYLATION AGE BIOMARKERS MAY BE GOOD PREDICTORS OF AGE-RELATED DISEASES AND MORTALITY RISK. THE AIMS OF THIS SYSTEMATIC REVIEW WERE TO IDENTIFY AND SYNTHESISE THE EVIDENCE FOR AN ASSOCIATION BETWEEN PERIPHERALLY MEASURED DNA METHYLATION AGE AND LONGEVITY, AGE-RELATED DISEASE, AND MORTALITY RISK. METHODS: A SYSTEMATIC SEARCH WAS CONDUCTED IN LINE WITH THE PREFERRED REPORTING ITEMS FOR SYSTEMATIC REVIEWS AND META-ANALYSES (PRISMA) GUIDELINES. USING RELEVANT SEARCH TERMS, MEDLINE, EMBASE, COCHRANE CENTRAL REGISTER OF CONTROLLED TRIALS, AND PSYCHINFO DATABASES WERE SEARCHED TO IDENTIFY ARTICLES MEETING THE INCLUSION CRITERIA. STUDIES WERE ASSESSED FOR BIAS USING JOANNA BRIGGS INSTITUTE CRITICAL APPRAISAL CHECKLISTS. DATA WAS EXTRACTED FROM STUDIES MEASURING AGE ACCELERATION AS A PREDICTOR OF AGE-RELATED DISEASES, MORTALITY OR LONGEVITY, AND THE FINDINGS FOR SIMILAR OUTCOMES COMPARED. USING REVIEW MANAGER 5.3 SOFTWARE, TWO META-ANALYSES (ONE PER EPIGENETIC CLOCK) WERE CONDUCTED ON STUDIES MEASURING ALL-CAUSE MORTALITY. RESULTS: TWENTY-THREE RELEVANT ARTICLES WERE IDENTIFIED, INCLUDING A TOTAL OF 41,607 PARTICIPANTS. FOUR STUDIES FOCUSED ON AGEING AND LONGEVITY, 11 ON AGE-RELATED DISEASE (CANCER, CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE, AND DEMENTIA), AND 11 ON MORTALITY. THERE WAS SOME, ALTHOUGH INCONSISTENT, EVIDENCE FOR AN ASSOCIATION BETWEEN INCREASED DNA METHYLATION AGE AND RISK OF DISEASE. META-ANALYSES INDICATED THAT EACH 5-YEAR INCREASE IN DNA METHYLATION AGE WAS ASSOCIATED AN 8 TO 15% INCREASED RISK OF MORTALITY. CONCLUSION: DUE TO THE SMALL NUMBER OF STUDIES AND HETEROGENEITY IN STUDY DESIGN AND OUTCOMES, THE ASSOCIATION BETWEEN DNA METHYLATION AGE AND AGE-RELATED DISEASE AND LONGEVITY IS INCONCLUSIVE. INCREASED EPIGENETIC AGE WAS ASSOCIATED WITH MORTALITY RISK, BUT POSITIVE PUBLICATION BIAS NEEDS TO BE CONSIDERED. FURTHER RESEARCH IS NEEDED TO DETERMINE THE EXTENT TO WHICH DNA METHYLATION AGE CAN BE USED AS A CLINICAL BIOMARKER. 2019 19 1599 40 DNA METHYLATION SIGNATURE OF CHILDHOOD CHRONIC PHYSICAL AGGRESSION IN T CELLS OF BOTH MEN AND WOMEN. BACKGROUND: HIGH FREQUENCY OF PHYSICAL AGGRESSION IS THE CENTRAL FEATURE OF SEVERE CONDUCT DISORDER AND IS ASSOCIATED WITH A WIDE RANGE OF SOCIAL, MENTAL AND PHYSICAL HEALTH PROBLEMS. WE HAVE PREVIOUSLY TESTED THE HYPOTHESIS THAT DIFFERENTIAL DNA METHYLATION SIGNATURES IN PERIPHERAL T CELLS ARE ASSOCIATED WITH A CHRONIC AGGRESSION TRAJECTORY IN MALES. DESPITE THE FACT THAT SEX DIFFERENCES APPEAR TO PLAY A PIVOTAL ROLE IN DETERMINING THE DEVELOPMENT, MAGNITUDE AND FREQUENCY OF AGGRESSION, MOST OF PREVIOUS STUDIES FOCUSED ON MALES, SO LITTLE IS KNOWN ABOUT FEMALE CHRONIC PHYSICAL AGGRESSION. WE THEREFORE TESTED HERE WHETHER OR NOT THERE IS A SIGNATURE OF PHYSICAL AGGRESSION IN FEMALE DNA METHYLATION AND, IF THERE IS, HOW IT RELATES TO THE SIGNATURE OBSERVED IN MALES. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: METHYLATION PROFILES WERE CREATED USING THE METHOD OF METHYLATED DNA IMMUNOPRECIPITATION (MEDIP) FOLLOWED BY MICROARRAY HYBRIDIZATION AND STATISTICAL AND BIOINFORMATIC ANALYSES ON T CELL DNA OBTAINED FROM ADULT WOMEN WHO WERE FOUND TO BE ON A CHRONIC PHYSICAL AGGRESSION TRAJECTORY (CPA) BETWEEN 6 AND 12 YEARS OF AGE COMPARED TO WOMEN WHO FOLLOWED A NORMAL PHYSICAL AGGRESSION TRAJECTORY. WE CONFIRMED THE EXISTENCE OF A WELL-DEFINED, GENOME-WIDE SIGNATURE OF DNA METHYLATION ASSOCIATED WITH CHRONIC PHYSICAL AGGRESSION IN THE PERIPHERAL T CELLS OF ADULT FEMALES THAT INCLUDES MANY OF THE GENES SIMILARLY ASSOCIATED WITH PHYSICAL AGGRESSION IN THE SAME CELL TYPES OF ADULT MALES. CONCLUSIONS: THIS STUDY IN A SMALL NUMBER OF WOMEN PRESENTS PRELIMINARY EVIDENCE FOR A GENOME-WIDE VARIATION IN PROMOTER DNA METHYLATION THAT ASSOCIATES WITH CPA IN WOMEN THAT WARRANT LARGER STUDIES FOR FURTHER VERIFICATION. A SIGNIFICANT PROPORTION OF THESE ASSOCIATIONS WERE PREVIOUSLY OBSERVED IN MEN WITH CPA SUPPORTING THE HYPOTHESIS THAT THE EPIGENETIC SIGNATURE OF EARLY LIFE AGGRESSION IN FEMALES IS COMPOSED OF A COMPONENT SPECIFIC TO FEMALES AND ANOTHER COMMON TO BOTH MALES AND FEMALES. 2014 20 2148 39 EPIGENETIC MARKERS OF RENAL FUNCTION IN AFRICAN AMERICANS. CHRONIC KIDNEY DISEASE (CKD) IS AN INCREASING CONCERN IN THE UNITED STATES DUE TO ITS RAPIDLY RISING PREVALENCE, PARTICULARLY AMONG AFRICAN AMERICANS. EPIGENETIC DNA METHYLATION MARKERS ARE BECOMING IMPORTANT BIOMARKERS OF CHRONIC DISEASES SUCH AS CKD. TO BETTER UNDERSTAND HOW THESE METHYLATION MARKERS PLAY A ROLE IN KIDNEY FUNCTION, WE MEASURED 26,428 DNA METHYLATION SITES IN 972 AFRICAN AMERICANS FROM THE GENETIC EPIDEMIOLOGY NETWORK OF ARTERIOPATHY (GENOA) STUDY. WE THEN EVALUATED (1) WHETHER EPIGENETIC MARKERS ARE ASSOCIATED WITH ESTIMATED GLOMERULAR FILTRATION RATE (EGFR), (2) WHETHER THE SIGNIFICANTLY ASSOCIATED MARKERS ARE ALSO ASSOCIATED WITH TRADITIONAL RISK FACTORS AND/OR NOVEL BIOMARKERS FOR EGFR, AND (3) HOW MUCH ADDITIONAL VARIATION IN EGFR IS EXPLAINED BY EPIGENETIC MARKERS BEYOND ESTABLISHED RISK FACTORS AND BIOMARKERS. THE MAJORITY OF METHYLATION MARKERS MOST SIGNIFICANTLY ASSOCIATED WITH EGFR (24 OUT OF THE TOP 30) APPEARED TO FUNCTION, AT LEAST IN PART, THROUGH PATHWAYS RELATED TO AGING, INFLAMMATION, OR CHOLESTEROL. HOWEVER, SIX EPIGENETIC MARKERS WERE STILL ABLE TO SIGNIFICANTLY PREDICT EGFR AFTER ADJUSTMENT FOR OTHER RISK FACTORS. THIS WORK SHOWS THAT EPIGENETIC MARKERS MAY OFFER VALUABLE NEW INSIGHT INTO THE COMPLEX PATHOPHYSIOLOGY OF CKD IN AFRICAN AMERICANS. 2013