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Alzheimer’s disease-associated (hydroxy)methylomic changes in the brain and blood

Posted on 2019-11-28 - 04:59
Abstract Background Late-onset Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a complex multifactorial affliction, the pathogenesis of which is thought to involve gene-environment interactions that might be captured in the epigenome. The present study investigated epigenome-wide patterns of DNA methylation (5-methylcytosine, 5mC) and hydroxymethylation (5-hydroxymethylcytosine, 5hmC), as well as the abundance of unmodified cytosine (UC), in relation to AD. Results We identified epigenetic differences in AD patients (n = 45) as compared to age-matched controls (n = 35) in the middle temporal gyrus, pertaining to genomic regions close to or overlapping with genes such as OXT (− 3.76% 5mC, pŠidák = 1.07E−06), CHRNB1 (+ 1.46% 5hmC, pŠidák = 4.01E−04), RHBDF2 (− 3.45% UC, pŠidák = 4.85E−06), and C3 (− 1.20% UC, pŠidák = 1.57E−03). In parallel, in an independent cohort, we compared the blood methylome of converters to AD dementia (n = 54) and non-converters (n = 42), at a preclinical stage. DNA methylation in the same region of the OXT promoter as found in the brain was found to be associated with subsequent conversion to AD dementia in the blood of elderly, non-demented individuals (+ 3.43% 5mC, pŠidák = 7.14E−04). Conclusions The implication of genome-wide significant differential methylation of OXT, encoding oxytocin, in two independent cohorts indicates it is a promising target for future studies on early biomarkers and novel therapeutic strategies in AD.

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Clinical Epigenetics

AUTHORS (29)

  • Roy Lardenoije
    Janou Roubroeks
    Ehsan Pishva
    Markus Leber
    Holger Wagner
    Artemis Iatrou
    Adam Smith
    Rebecca Smith
    Lars Eijssen
    Luca Kleineidam
    Amit Kawalia
    Per Hoffmann
    Tobias Luck
    Steffi Riedel-Heller
    Frank Jessen
    Wolfgang Maier
    Michael Wagner
    René Hurlemann
    Gunter Kenis
    Muhammad Ali
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