title: Life course socioeconomic status and DNA methylation in genes related to stress reactivity and inflammation: The multi-ethnic study of atherosclerosis.
abstract: Epigenetic changes, such as DNA methylation, have been hypothesized to provide a link between the social environment and disease development. The purpose of this study was to examine associations between life course measures of socioeconomic status (SES) and DNA methylation (DNAm) in 18 genes related to stress reactivity and inflammation using a multi-level modeling approach that treats DNAm measurements as repeat measures within an individual. DNAm and gene expression were assessed in purified monocytes for a random subsample of 1,264 non-Hispanic white, African-American, and Hispanic participants aged 55-94 from the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA). After correction for multiple testing, we found that low childhood SES was associated with DNAm in 3 stress-related genes (AVP, FKBP5, OXTR) and 2 inflammation-related genes (CCL1, CD1D), low adult SES was associated with DNAm in one stress-related gene (AVP) and 5 inflammation-related genes (CD1D, F8, KLRG1, NLRP12, TLR3), and social mobility was associated with DNAm in 3 stress-related genes (AVP, FKBP5, OXTR) and 7 inflammation-related genes (CCL1, CD1D, F8, KLRG1, NLRP12, PYDC1, TLR3). In general, low SES was associated with increased DNAm. Expression data was available for 7 genes that showed a significant relationship between SES and DNAm. In 5 of these 7 genes (CD1D, F8, FKBP5, KLRG1, NLRP12), DNAm was associated with gene expression for at least one transcript, providing evidence of the potential functional consequences of alterations in DNAm related to SES. The results of this study reflect the biological complexity of epigenetic data and underscore the need for multi-disciplinary approaches to study how DNAm may contribute to the social patterning of disease.
authors: a Department of Epidemiology; University of Michigan; Ann Arbor, MI USA.
authors: Belinda L
authors: BL
authors: Needham
authors: a Department of Epidemiology; University of Michigan; Ann Arbor, MI USA.
authors: Jennifer A
authors: JA
authors: Smith
authors: a Department of Epidemiology; University of Michigan; Ann Arbor, MI USA.
authors: Wei
authors: W
authors: Zhao
authors: b Department of Epidemiology; Drexel University; Philadelphia, PA USA.
authors: Xu
authors: X
authors: Wang
authors: c Department of Biostatistics; University of Michigan; Ann Arbor, MI USA.
authors: Bhramar
authors: B
authors: Mukherjee
authors: a Department of Epidemiology; University of Michigan; Ann Arbor, MI USA.
authors: Sharon L R
authors: SL
authors: Kardia
authors: d Section on Comparative Medicine; Wake Forest University; Winston-Salem, NC USA.
authors: Carol A
authors: CA
authors: Shively
authors: e Department of Medicine; University of California ; Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA USA.
authors: Teresa E
authors: TE
authors: Seeman
authors: f Department of Epidemiology and Prevention; Wake Forest University; Winston-Salem, NC USA.
authors: Yongmei
authors: Y
authors: Liu
authors: b Department of Epidemiology; Drexel University; Philadelphia, PA USA.
authors: Ava V
authors: AV
authors: Diez Roux
mesh_terms: D001741:Black or African American / Q000235:genetics / Q000523:psychology; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D050197:Atherosclerosis / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology / Q000523:psychology; D019175:DNA Methylation / Q000235:genetics*; D005260:Female; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D006630:Hispanic or Latino / Q000235:genetics / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D007249:Inflammation / Q000235:genetics* / Q000523:psychology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D014176:Protein Biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics; D012923:Social Class; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology / Q000523:psychology; D044465:White People / Q000235:genetics / Q000523:psychology
keywords: DNA methylation; gene expression; inflammation; socioeconomic status; stress reactivity