Blood-Derived DNA Methylation Signatures of Crohn's Disease and Severity of Intestinal Inflammation. Gastroenterology 2019 Jun;156(8):2254-2265.e3
Date
02/20/2019Pubmed ID
30779925Pubmed Central ID
PMC6529254DOI
10.1053/j.gastro.2019.01.270Scopus ID
2-s2.0-85061634311 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site) 82 CitationsAbstract
BACKGROUND & AIMS: Crohn's disease is a relapsing and remitting inflammatory disorder with a variable clinical course. Although most patients present with an inflammatory phenotype (B1), approximately 20% of patients rapidly progress to complicated disease, which includes stricturing (B2), within 5 years. We analyzed DNA methylation patterns in blood samples of pediatric patients with Crohn's disease at diagnosis and later time points to identify changes that associate with and might contribute to disease development and progression.
METHODS: We obtained blood samples from 164 pediatric patients (1-17 years old) with Crohn's disease (B1 or B2) who participated in a North American study and were followed for 5 years. Participants without intestinal inflammation or symptoms served as controls (n = 74). DNA methylation patterns were analyzed in samples collected at time of diagnosis and 1-3 years later at approximately 850,000 sites. We used genetic association and the concept of Mendelian randomization to identify changes in DNA methylation patterns that might contribute to the development of or result from Crohn's disease.
RESULTS: We identified 1189 5'-cytosine-phosphate-guanosine-3' (CpG) sites that were differentially methylated between patients with Crohn's disease (at diagnosis) and controls. Methylation changes at these sites correlated with plasma levels of C-reactive protein. A comparison of methylation profiles of DNA collected at diagnosis of Crohn's disease vs during the follow-up period showed that, during treatment, alterations identified in methylation profiles at the time of diagnosis of Crohn's disease more closely resembled patterns observed in controls, irrespective of disease progression to B2. We identified methylation changes at 3 CpG sites that might contribute to the development of Crohn's disease. Most CpG methylation changes associated with Crohn's disease disappeared with treatment of inflammation and might be a result of Crohn's disease.
CONCLUSIONS: Methylation patterns observed in blood samples from patients with Crohn's disease accompany acute inflammation; with treatment, these change to resemble methylation patterns observed in patients without intestinal inflammation. These findings indicate that Crohn's disease-associated patterns of DNA methylation observed in blood samples are a result of the inflammatory features of the disease and are less likely to contribute to disease development or progression.
Author List
Somineni HK, Venkateswaran S, Kilaru V, Marigorta UM, Mo A, Okou DT, Kellermayer R, Mondal K, Cobb D, Walters TD, Griffiths A, Noe JD, Crandall WV, Rosh JR, Mack DR, Heyman MB, Baker SS, Stephens MC, Baldassano RN, Markowitz JF, Dubinsky MC, Cho J, Hyams JS, Denson LA, Gibson G, Cutler DJ, Conneely KN, Smith AK, Kugathasan SAuthor
Joshua D. Noe MD Associate Dean, Professor in the Pediatrics department at Medical College of WisconsinMESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold
AdolescentAge Factors
Case-Control Studies
Child
Child, Preschool
Crohn Disease
DNA Methylation
Disease Progression
Female
Follow-Up Studies
Gene Expression Regulation
Genome-Wide Association Study
Genotype
Humans
Infant
Inflammation
Male
Mendelian Randomization Analysis
North America
Risk Assessment
Severity of Illness Index
Sex Factors
