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Global DNA methylation is associated with insulin resistance: a monozygotic twin study.

ABSTRACT: Insulin resistance (IR), the hallmark of type 2 diabetes, may be under epigenetic control. This study examines the association between global DNA methylation and IR using 84 monozygotic twin pairs. IR was estimated using homeostasis model assessment (HOMA). Global DNA methylation of Alu repeats in peripheral blood leukocytes was quantified by bisulfite pyrosequencing. The association between global DNA methylation and IR was examined using generalized estimating equation (GEE) and within-twin pair analyses, adjusting for potential confounders. Results show that methylation levels at all four CpG sites were individually associated with IR by GEE (all false discovery rate-adjusted P values?0.026). A 10% increase in mean Alu methylation was associated with an increase of 4.55 units (95% CI 2.38-6.73) in HOMA. Intrapair difference in IR was significantly associated with intrapair difference in global methylation level. A 10% increase in the difference in mean Alu methylation was associated with an increase of 4.54 units (0.34-8.71; P=0.036) in the difference in HOMA. Confirmation of the results by intrapair analyses suggests that genetic factors do not confound the association between global DNA methylation and IR. Exclusion of twins taking diabetes medication (n=17) did not change our results.

SUBMITTER: Zhao J

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3266395 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Global DNA methylation is associated with insulin resistance: a monozygotic twin study.

Zhao Jinying J Goldberg Jack J Bremner James D JD Vaccarino Viola V

Diabetes 20111230 2

Insulin resistance (IR), the hallmark of type 2 diabetes, may be under epigenetic control. This study examines the association between global DNA methylation and IR using 84 monozygotic twin pairs. IR was estimated using homeostasis model assessment (HOMA). Global DNA methylation of Alu repeats in peripheral blood leukocytes was quantified by bisulfite pyrosequencing. The association between global DNA methylation and IR was examined using generalized estimating equation (GEE) and within-twin pa ...[more]

PMID: 22210312

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Project description:BackgroundSmoking-associated DNA methylation levels identified through epigenome-wide association studies (EWASs) are generally ascribed to smoking-reactive mechanisms, but the contribution of a shared genetic predisposition to smoking and DNA methylation levels is typically not accounted for.MethodsWe exploited a strong within-family design, that is, the discordant monozygotic twin design, to study reactiveness of DNA methylation in blood cells to smoking and reversibility of methylation patterns upon quitting smoking. Illumina HumanMethylation450 BeadChip data were available for 769 monozygotic twin pairs (mean age = 36 years, range = 18-78, 70% female), including pairs discordant or concordant for current or former smoking.ResultsIn pairs discordant for current smoking, 13 differentially methylated CpGs were found between current smoking twins and their genetically identical co-twin who never smoked. Top sites include multiple CpGs in CACNA1D and GNG12, which encode subunits of a calcium voltage-gated channel and G protein, respectively. These proteins interact with the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor, suggesting that methylation levels at these CpGs might be reactive to nicotine exposure. All 13 CpGs have been previously associated with smoking in unrelated individuals and data from monozygotic pairs discordant for former smoking indicated that methylation patterns are to a large extent reversible upon smoking cessation. We further showed that differences in smoking level exposure for monozygotic twins who are both current smokers but differ in the number of cigarettes they smoke are reflected in their DNA methylation profiles.ConclusionsIn conclusion, by analysing data from monozygotic twins, we robustly demonstrate that DNA methylation level in human blood cells is reactive to cigarette smoking.FundingWe acknowledge funding from the National Institute on Drug Abuse grant DA049867, the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO): Biobanking and Biomolecular Research Infrastructure (BBMRI-NL, NWO 184.033.111) and the BBRMI-NL-financed BIOS Consortium (NWO 184.021.007), NWO Large Scale infrastructures X-Omics (184.034.019), Genotype/phenotype database for behaviour genetic and genetic epidemiological studies (ZonMw Middelgroot 911-09-032); Netherlands Twin Registry Repository: researching the interplay between genome and environment (NWO-Groot 480-15-001/674); the Avera Institute, Sioux Falls (USA), and the National Institutes of Health (NIH R01 HD042157-01A1, MH081802, Grand Opportunity grants 1RC2 MH089951 and 1RC2 MH089995); epigenetic data were generated at the Human Genomics Facility (HuGe-F) at ErasmusMC Rotterdam. Cotinine assaying was sponsored by the Neuroscience Campus Amsterdam. DIB acknowledges the Royal Netherlands Academy of Science Professor Award (PAH/6635).

Project description:BackgroundPrenatal growth restriction and low birth weight have been linked to long-term alterations of health, presumably via adaptive modifications of the epigenome. Recent studies indicate a plasticity of the 11p15 epigenotype in response to environmental changes during early stages of human development.Study designWe analyzed methylation levels at different 11p15 loci in 20 growth-discordant monozygotic twin pairs. Intrauterine development was discordant due to severe twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome (TTTS), which was treated by fetoscopic laser coagulation of communicating vessels before 25 weeks of gestation. Methylation levels at age 4 were determined in blood and buccal cell-derived DNA by the single nucleotide primer extension reaction ion pair reverse-phase high performance liquid chromatography (SNuPE IP RP HPLC) assay. Methylation at LINE-1 repeats was analyzed as an estimate of global methylation.ResultsIn general, variance of locus-specific methylation levels appeared to be higher in buccal cell- as compared to blood cell-derived DNA samples. Paired analyses within the twin pairs revealed significant differences at only one CpG site (IGF2 dmr0 SN3 (blood), +1.9% in donors; P = 0.013). When plotting the twin pair-discordance in birth weight against the degree of discordance in site-specific methylation at age 4, only a few CpGs were found to interact (one CpG site each at IGF2dmr0 in blood/saliva DNA, one CpG at LINE-1 repeats in saliva DNA), with 26 to 36% of the intra-twin pair divergence at these sites explained by prenatal growth discordance. However, across the entire cohort of 40 children, site-specific methylation did not correlate with SD-scores for weight or length at birth. Insulin-like growth factor-II serum concentrations showed significant within-twin pair correlations at birth (R = 0.57) and at age 4 (R = 0.79), but did not differ between donors and recipients. They also did not correlate with the analyzed 11p15 methylation parameters.ConclusionIn a cohort of 20 growth-discordant monozygotic twin pairs, severe alteration in placental blood supply due to TTTS appears to leave only weak, if any, epigenetic marks at the analyzed CpG sites at 11p15.

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Global DNA methylation is associated with insulin resistance: a monozygotic twin study.

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Global DNA methylation is associated with insulin resistance: a monozygotic twin study.

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