DNA methylation is associated with lung function in never smokers.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Active smoking is the main risk factor for COPD. Here, epigenetic mechanisms may play a role, since cigarette smoking is associated with differential DNA methylation in whole blood. So far, it is unclear whether epigenetics also play a role in subjects with COPD who never smoked. Therefore, we aimed to identify differential DNA methylation associated with lung function in never smokers.

Methods

We determined epigenome-wide DNA methylation levels of 396,243 CpG-sites (Illumina 450 K) in blood of never smokers in four independent cohorts, LifeLines COPD&C (N = 903), LifeLines DEEP (N = 166), Rotterdam Study (RS)-III (N = 150) and RS-BIOS (N = 206). We meta-analyzed the cohort-specific methylation results to identify differentially methylated CpG-sites with FEV₁

SUBMITTER: de Vries M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6889726 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature