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de F C Lichtenfels AJ, van der Plaat DA, de Jong K, van Diemen CC, Postma DS, Nedeljkovic I, van Duijn CM, Amin N, la Bastide-van Gemert S, de Vries M, Ward-Caviness CK, Wolf K, Waldenberger M, Peters A, Stolk RP, Brunekreef B, Boezen HM, Vonk JM. Long-term Air Pollution Exposure, Genome-wide DNA Methylation and Lung Function in the LifeLines Cohort Study. Environ Health Perspect 2018; 126:027004. [PMID: 29410382 PMCID: PMC6047358 DOI: 10.1289/ehp2045] [Citation(s) in RCA: 56] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/12/2017] [Revised: 12/13/2017] [Accepted: 12/13/2017] [Indexed: 05/17/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Long-term air pollution exposure is negatively associated with lung function, yet the mechanisms underlying this association are not fully clear. Differential DNA methylation may explain this association. OBJECTIVES Our main aim was to study the association between long-term air pollution exposure and DNA methylation. METHODS We performed a genome-wide methylation study using robust linear regression models in 1,017 subjects from the LifeLines cohort study to analyze the association between exposure to nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and particulate matter (PM2.5, fine particulate matter with aerodynamic diameter ≤2.5 μm; PM10, particulate matter with aerodynamic diameter ≤10 μm) and PM2.5absorbance, indicator of elemental carbon content (estimated with land-use-regression models) with DNA methylation in whole blood (Illumina® HumanMethylation450K BeadChip). Replication of the top hits was attempted in two independent samples from the population-based Cooperative Health Research in the Region of Augsburg studies (KORA). RESULTS Depending on the p-value threshold used, we found significant associations between NO2 exposure and DNA methylation for seven CpG sites (Bonferroni corrected threshold p<1.19×10-7) or for 4,980 CpG sites (False Discovery Rate<0.05). The top associated CpG site was annotated to the PSMB9 gene (i.e., cg04908668). None of the seven Bonferroni significant CpG-sites were significantly replicated in the two KORA-cohorts. No associations were found for PM exposure. CONCLUSIONS Long-term NO2 exposure was genome-wide significantly associated with DNA methylation in the identification cohort but not in the replication cohort. Future studies are needed to further elucidate the potential mechanisms underlying NO2-exposure-related respiratory disease. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP2045.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ana Julia de F C Lichtenfels
- Department of Epidemiology, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, Netherlands
- Groningen Research Institute for Asthma and COPD (GRIAC), University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen , Groningen, Netherlands
| | - Diana A van der Plaat
- Department of Epidemiology, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, Netherlands
- Groningen Research Institute for Asthma and COPD (GRIAC), University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen , Groningen, Netherlands
| | - Kim de Jong
- Department of Epidemiology, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, Netherlands
- Groningen Research Institute for Asthma and COPD (GRIAC), University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen , Groningen, Netherlands
| | - Cleo C van Diemen
- Department of Genetics, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, Netherlands
| | - Dirkje S Postma
- Groningen Research Institute for Asthma and COPD (GRIAC), University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen , Groningen, Netherlands
- Department of Pulmonary Diseases, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen , Netherlands
| | - Ivana Nedeljkovic
- Department of Epidemiology, Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, Netherlands
| | | | - Najaf Amin
- Department of Epidemiology, Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, Netherlands
| | - Sacha la Bastide-van Gemert
- Department of Epidemiology, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, Netherlands
| | - Maaike de Vries
- Department of Epidemiology, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, Netherlands
- Groningen Research Institute for Asthma and COPD (GRIAC), University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen , Groningen, Netherlands
| | - Cavin K Ward-Caviness
- Institute of Epidemiology II, Helmholtz Zentrum München , Neuherberg, Germany
- Environmental Public Health Division, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency , Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
| | - Kathrin Wolf
- Institute of Epidemiology II, Helmholtz Zentrum München , Neuherberg, Germany
| | | | - Annette Peters
- Institute of Epidemiology II, Helmholtz Zentrum München , Neuherberg, Germany
| | - Ronald P Stolk
- Department of Epidemiology, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, Netherlands
| | - Bert Brunekreef
- Institute for Risk Assessment Sciences , Utrecht University, Utrecht, Netherlands
- Julius Center for Health Sciences and Primary Care, University Medical Center Utrecht , Netherlands
| | - H Marike Boezen
- Department of Epidemiology, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, Netherlands
- Groningen Research Institute for Asthma and COPD (GRIAC), University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen , Groningen, Netherlands
| | - Judith M Vonk
- Department of Epidemiology, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, Netherlands
- Groningen Research Institute for Asthma and COPD (GRIAC), University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen , Groningen, Netherlands
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