Changes in DNA methylation at the aryl hydrocarbon receptor repressor may be a new biomarker for smoking.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Smoking is the largest preventable cause of morbidity and mortality in the United States. In previous work, we demonstrated that altered DNA methylation at the aryl hydrocarbon receptor repressor (AHRR) is correlated with self-reported smoking in 19-year-old African Americans with relatively low levels of smoking. However, one limitation of the prior work is that it was based on self-reported data only. Therefore, the relationship of AHRR methylation to smoking in older subjects and to indicators such as serum cotinine levels remains unknown. To address this question, we examined the relationship between genome- wide DNA methylation and smoking status as indicated by serum cotinine levels in a cohort of 22-year-old African American men.

Results

Consistent with pri

SUBMITTER: Philibert RA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3819644 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature