1. Associations of Alcohol Consumption With Epigenome‐Wide DNA Methylation and Epigenetic Age Acceleration: Individual‐Level and Co‐twin Comparison Analyses
- Author
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Danielle M. Dick, Miina Ollikainen, Mallory Stephenson, Sailalitha Bollepalli, Jaakko Kaprio, Richard J. Rose, Emma Cazaly, Jessica E. Salvatore, Peter B. Barr, Epigenetics of Complex Diseases and Traits, Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland, Department of Public Health, and HUS Helsinki and Uusimaa Hospital District
- Subjects
Male ,Aging ,Medicine (miscellaneous) ,Alcohol ,Toxicology ,Epigenesis, Genetic ,Cohort Studies ,Epigenome ,chemistry.chemical_compound ,0302 clinical medicine ,DEPENDENCE ,Twins, Dizygotic ,Longitudinal Studies ,Young adult ,Finland ,wide association study ,epigenome‐ ,0303 health sciences ,1184 Genetics, developmental biology, physiology ,Methylation ,BINGE ,3142 Public health care science, environmental and occupational health ,Psychiatry and Mental health ,CpG site ,DNA methylation ,Female ,Alcohol consumption ,EXPRESSION ,Adult ,Alcohol Drinking ,Co‐ ,Biology ,Article ,MECHANISMS ,Young Adult ,03 medical and health sciences ,Humans ,Epigenetics ,030304 developmental biology ,Twins, Monozygotic ,DNA Methylation ,Age Acceleration ,Cross-Sectional Studies ,FinnTwin12 ,chemistry ,1182 Biochemistry, cell and molecular biology ,twin Comparisons ,030217 neurology & neurosurgery ,Genome-Wide Association Study ,Demography - Abstract
BACKGROUND: DNA methylation may play a role in progression from normative to problematic drinking and underlie adverse health outcomes associated with alcohol misuse. In the current study, we examined the association between alcohol consumption and DNA methylation patterns using three approaches: a conventional epigenome-wide association study (EWAS); a co-twin comparison design, which controls for genetic and environmental influences that twins share; and a regression of age acceleration, defined as a discrepancy between chronological age and DNA methylation age, on alcohol consumption. METHODS: Participants came from the Finnish Twin Cohorts (FinnTwin12/FinnTwin16; N = 1004; 55% female; average age = 23 years). Individuals reported the number of alcoholic beverages consumed in the past week, and epigenome-wide DNA methylation was assessed in whole-blood using the Infinium HumanMethylation450 BeadChip. RESULTS: In the EWAS, alcohol consumption was significantly related to methylation at 24 CpG sites. When evaluating whether differences between twin siblings (185 monozygotic pairs) in alcohol consumption predicted differences in DNA methylation, co-twin comparisons replicated four CpG sites from the EWAS and identified 23 additional sites. However, when we examined qualitative differences in drinking patterns between twins (heavy drinker versus light drinker/abstainer or moderate drinker versus abstainer; 44 pairs), methylation patterns did not significantly differ within twin pairs. Finally, individuals who reported higher alcohol consumption also exhibited greater age acceleration, though results were no longer significant after controlling for genetic and environmental influences shared by co-twins. CONCLUSIONS: Our analyses offer insight into the associations between epigenetic variation and levels of alcohol consumption in young adulthood.
- Published
- 2020