Epigenome-wide association study of asthma and wheeze in childhood and adolescence.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Asthma heritability has only been partially explained by genetic variants and is known to be sensitive to environmental factors, implicating epigenetic modifications such as DNA methylation in its pathogenesis.

Methods

Using data collected in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC), we assessed associations of asthma and wheeze with DNA methylation at 7.5 and 16.5 years, at over 450,000 CpG sites in DNA from the peripheral blood of approx. 1000 participants. We used Mendelian randomization (MR), a method of causal inference that uses genetic variants as instrumental variables, to infer the direction of association between DNA methylation and asthma.

Results

We identified 302 CpGs associated with current asthma status (FDR-adjusted P<

SUBMITTER: Arathimos R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5640901 | biostudies-literature | 2017

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature