Characterisation of ethnic differences in DNA methylation between UK-resident South Asians and Europeans

Hannah R Elliott*, Kimberley Burrows, Josine L Min, Therese Tillin, Dan Mason, John Wright, Gillian Santorelli, George Davey Smith, Deborah A Lawlor, Alun D Hughes, Nishi Chaturvedi, Caroline L Relton

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticle (Academic Journal)peer-review

15 Citations (Scopus)
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Abstract

Ethnic differences in non-communicable disease risk have been described between individuals of South Asian and European ethnicity that are only partially explained by genetics and other known risk factors. DNA methylation is one underexplored mechanism that may explain differences in disease risk. Currently, there is little knowledge of how DNA methylation varies between South Asian and European ethnicities. This study characterised differences in blood DNA methylation between individuals of self-reported European and South Asian ethnicity from two UK-based cohorts: Southall and Brent Revisited and Born in Bradford. DNA methylation differences between ethnicities were widespread throughout the genome (n = 16,433 CpG sites, 3.4% sites tested). Specifically, 76% of associations were attributable to ethnic differences in cell composition with fewer effects attributable to smoking and genetic variation. Ethnicity-associated CpG sites were enriched for EWAS Catalog phenotypes including metabolites. This work highlights the need to consider ethnic diversity in epigenetic research.

Original languageEnglish
Article number130
JournalClinical Epigenetics
Volume14
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 15 Oct 2022

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
The SABRE study was funded at baseline by the Medical Research Council, Diabetes UK, and the British Heart Foundation. At follow-up, the study was funded by the Wellcome Trust and the British Heart Foundation. Methylation analysis in the SABRE cohort was supported by a Wellcome Trust Enhancement grant 082464/Z/07/C. Genotyping analysis in the SABRE cohort was supported by the British Heart Foundation (CS/13/1/30327). BiB receives core infrastructure funding from the Wellcome Trust (WT101597MA), a joint grant from the UK Medical Research Council (MRC) and Economic and Social Science Research Council (ESRC) (MR/N024397/1), the British Heart Foundation (CS/16/4/32482) and the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) under its Applied Research Collaboration (ARC) for Yorkshire and Humber and the Clinical Research Network (CRN). DNA methylation data was funded by the UK Medical Research Council via the Integrative Epidemiology Unit (MC_UU_12013/5). HRE, KB, JLM, CLR, DAL and GDS work in the Medical Research Council Integrative Epidemiology Unit at the University of Bristol, which is supported by the Medical Research Council and the University of Bristol (MC_UU_00011/5, MC_UU_00011/6 and MC_UU_00011/1). DAL is supported by a British Heart Foundation Chair (CH/F/20/90003) and National Institute for Health Research Senior Investigator award (NF-0616-10102). NC and AH received support from a Biomedical Research Centre Award to Imperial NHS Healthcare Trust. The funders played no role in the study design and conduct, or in these analyses or the decision to submit the manuscript for publication. The SABRE study group is entirely independent of the funding bodies.

Funding Information:
We gratefully acknowledge the participation of all individuals contributing to SABRE and Born in Bradford cohorts. Born in Bradford is only possible because of the enthusiasm and commitment of the Children and Parents in BiB. We are grateful to all the participants, teachers, school staff, health professionals and researchers who have made Born in Bradford happen.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2022, The Author(s).

Research Groups and Themes

  • Bristol Population Health Science Institute

Keywords

  • Asians/genetics
  • DNA Methylation
  • Humans
  • Risk Factors
  • United Kingdom
  • Whites/genetics

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