Epigenome-wide association study on short-, intermediate- and long-term ozone exposure in Han Chinese, the NSPT study

Xiyang Cai; Kaixuan Li; Xia Meng; Qinglin Song; Su Shi; Wenran Li; Yue Niu; Li Jin; Haidong Kan; Sijia Wang

doi:10.1016/j.jhazmat.2023.132780

Epigenome-wide association study on short-, intermediate- and long-term ozone exposure in Han Chinese, the NSPT study

J Hazard Mater. 2024 Feb 5:463:132780. doi: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2023.132780. Epub 2023 Oct 14.

Authors

Xiyang Cai¹, Kaixuan Li¹, Xia Meng², Qinglin Song¹, Su Shi², Wenran Li¹, Yue Niu², Li Jin³, Haidong Kan⁴, Sijia Wang⁵

Affiliations

¹ CAS Key Laboratory of Computational Biology, Shanghai Institute of Nutrition and Health, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China.
² School of Public Health, Shanghai Institute of Infectious Disease and Biosecurity, Key Lab of Public Health Safety of the Ministry of Education and NHC Key Lab of Health Technology Assessment, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China.
³ State Key Laboratory of Genetic Engineering, Collaborative Innovation Center for Genetics and Development, and Human Phenome Institute, Fudan University, Shanghai, China; Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Contemporary Anthropology, Department of Anthropology and Human Genetics, School of Life Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai, China; Taizhou Institute of Health Sciences, Fudan University, Taizhou, Jiangsu, China.
⁴ School of Public Health, Shanghai Institute of Infectious Disease and Biosecurity, Key Lab of Public Health Safety of the Ministry of Education and NHC Key Lab of Health Technology Assessment, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China; Children's Hospital of Fudan University, National Center for Children's Health, Shanghai 201102, China. Electronic address: kanh@fudan.edu.cn.
⁵ CAS Key Laboratory of Computational Biology, Shanghai Institute of Nutrition and Health, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China; Taizhou Institute of Health Sciences, Fudan University, Taizhou, Jiangsu, China; Center for Excellence in Animal Evolution and Genetics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, China. Electronic address: wangsijia@picb.ac.cn.

PMID: 37898092
DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2023.132780

Abstract

Epidemiological and epigenetic studies have acknowledged ambient ozone exposure associated with inflammatory and cardiovascular disease. However, the molecular mechanisms still remained unclear, and epigenome-wide analysis in cohort were lacking, especially in Chinese. We included blood-derived DNA methylation for 3365 Chinese participants from the NSPT cohort and estimated individual ozone exposure level of short-, intermediate- and long-term, based on a validated prediction model. We performed epigenome-wide association studies which identified 59 CpGs and 30 DMRs at a strict genome-wide significance (P < 5 ×10^-8). We also conducted comparison on the DNA methylation alteration corresponding to different time windows, and observed an enhanced differentiated methylation trend for intermediate- and long-term exposure, while the short-term exposure associated methylation changes did not retain. The targeted genes of methylation alteration were involved in mechanism related to aging, inflammation disease, metabolic syndrome, neurodevelopmental disorders, and oncogenesis. Underlying pathways were enriched in biological activities including telomere maintenance process, DNA damage response and megakaryocyte differentiation. In conclusion, our study is the first EWAS on ozone exposure conducted in large-scale Han Chinese cohort and identified associated DNA methylation change on CpGs and regions, as well as related gene functions and pathways.

Keywords: DNA methylation; EWAS; Functional analysis; Ozone; Pathway enrichment.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Aging
DNA Methylation
East Asian People
Epigenesis, Genetic
Epigenome*
Humans
Ozone* / toxicity

Substances

Ozone