Sex-Specific DNA Methylation in Saliva from the Multi-Ethnic Future of Families and Child Wellbeing Study

Details

• Personal Author:
  Bakulski KM ; Dou JF ; Fisher JD ; Mitchell C ; Notterman DA ; Reiner A ; Schneper L ; Ware EB ; Zawistowski M
• Description:
  The prevalence and severity of many diseases differs by sex, potentially due to sex-specific patterns in DNA methylation. Autosomal sex-specific differences in DNA methylation have been observed in cord blood and placental tissue but are not well studied in saliva or in diverse populations. We sought to characterize sex-specific DNA methylation on autosomal chromosomes in saliva samples from children in the Future of Families and Child Wellbeing Study, a multi-ethnic prospective birth cohort containing an oversampling of Black, Hispanic and low-income families. DNA methylation from saliva samples was analysed on 796 children (50.6% male) at both ages 9 and 15 with DNA methylation measured using the Illumina HumanMethylation 450k array. An epigenome-wide association analysis of the age 9 samples identified 8,430 sex-differentiated autosomal DNA methylation sites (P < 2.4 × 10-7), of which 76.2% had higher DNA methylation in female children. The strongest sex-difference was in the cg26921482 probe, in the AMDHD2 gene, with 30.6% higher DNA methylation in female compared to male children (P < 1 × 10-300). Treating the age 15 samples as an internal replication set, we observed highly consistent results between the ages 9 and 15 measurements, indicating stable and replicable sex-differentiation. Further, we directly compared our results to previously published DNA methylation sex differences in both cord blood and saliva and again found strong consistency. Our findings support widespread and robust sex-differential DNA methylation across age, human tissues, and populations. These findings help inform our understanding of potential biological processes contributing to sex differences in human physiology and disease. Description provided by NIOSH
• Subjects:
  • Epidemiology
  • Family
  • Occupational Health
  • Safety
  • Sex Characteristics
• Keywords:
  • Epidemiology
  • Genomics
  • Sex factors
  • DNA damage
  • Families
  • Children
  • Genomics
  • Chromosome disorders
  • Author Keywords: DNA methylation
  • sex differences
  More +
• ISSN:
  1559-2294
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Michigan ; New Jersey ; OSHA Region 2 ; OSHA Region 5
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  18
• Issue:
  1
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20070591
• Citation:
  Epigenetics 2024 Jan; 18(1):2222244
• Contact Point Address:
  Erin B. Ware, Survey Research Center, Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan, 426 Thompson St, Ann Arbor, Michigan, MI 48104, USA
• Email:
  ebakshis@umich.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2024
• Performing Organization:
  University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20050701
• Source Full Name:
  Epigenetics
• End Date:
  20280630
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/208771/cdc_208771_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.98 MB]
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:b39c33f4451a9a4c2e2986030313964dbedf624f033c74d3dbb59933dedfe9edca36c16fefa4cc1839c4c8cbe93ebe7d71abdd19b26e23fbaa8ca797e97e8289