Projects per year
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 language | English |
---|---|
Article number | 130 |
Journal | Clinical Epigenetics |
Volume | 14 |
Issue number | 1 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 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
Fingerprint
Dive into the research topics of 'Characterisation of ethnic differences in DNA methylation between UK-resident South Asians and Europeans'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.Projects
- 3 Finished
-
-
IEU: MRC Integrative Epidemiology Unit Quinquennial renewal
Gaunt, L. F. (Principal Investigator) & Davey Smith, G. (Principal Investigator)
1/04/18 → 31/03/23
Project: Research
-
IEU 2 Relton Programme - Epigenetic Epidemiology
Relton, C. L. (Principal Investigator)
1/04/18 → 31/03/23
Project: Research
Datasets
-
Additional file 3 of Characterisation of ethnic differences in DNA methylation between UK-resident South Asians and Europeans
Elliott, H. R. (Creator), Burrows, K. (Creator), Min, J. L. (Creator), Tillin, T. (Creator), Mason, D. (Creator), Wright, J. (Creator), Santorelli, G. (Creator), Davey Smith, G. (Creator), Lawlor, D. A. (Creator), Hughes, A. D. (Creator), Chaturvedi, N. (Creator) & Relton, C. L. (Creator), figshare, 2022
DOI: 10.6084/m9.figshare.21343076.v1, https://springernature.figshare.com/articles/dataset/Additional_file_3_of_Characterisation_of_ethnic_differences_in_DNA_methylation_between_UK-resident_South_Asians_and_Europeans/21343076/1
Dataset
-
Additional file 4 of Characterisation of ethnic differences in DNA methylation between UK-resident South Asians and Europeans
Elliott, H. R. (Creator), Burrows, K. (Creator), Min, J. L. (Creator), Tillin, T. (Creator), Mason, D. (Creator), Wright, J. (Creator), Santorelli, G. (Creator), Davey Smith, G. (Creator), Lawlor, D. A. (Creator), Hughes, A. D. (Creator), Chaturvedi, N. (Creator) & Relton, C. L. (Creator), figshare, 2022
DOI: 10.6084/m9.figshare.21343091.v1, https://springernature.figshare.com/articles/dataset/Additional_file_4_of_Characterisation_of_ethnic_differences_in_DNA_methylation_between_UK-resident_South_Asians_and_Europeans/21343091/1
Dataset
Equipment
-
HPC (High Performance Computing) and HTC (High Throughput Computing) Facilities
Alam, S. R. (Manager), Eccleston, P. E. (Other), Williams, D. A. G. (Manager) & Atack, S. H. (Other)
Facility/equipment: Facility