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Molecular Diagnostics and Genetics |
1 Centro de Patogénese Molecular, Faculdade de Farmácia da Universidade de Lisboa, and
2 Centro de Nutrição e Metabolismo, Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de Lisboa, 1649-039 Lisboa, Portugal.
3 Metabolic Unit, Department of Clinical Chemistry, VU University Medical Center, 1081 HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
4 Department of Paediatrics, University Medical Center St. Radboud, 6500 HB Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
aAddress correspondence to this author at: Centro de Patogénese Molecular, Faculdade de Farmácia da Universidade de Lisboa, Av. Prof. Gama Pinto, 1649-039 Lisboa, Portugal. Fax 351-217946491; e-mail italmeida{at}ff.ul.pt.
| Abstract |
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Methods: We measured fasting plasma total Hcy (tHcy), AdoHcy, and S-adenosylmethionine (AdoMet) and methylation in leukocytes in 17 patients with vascular disease and in 15 healthy, age- and sex-matched controls.
Results: Patient with vascular disease had significantly higher plasma tHcy and AdoHcy concentrations and significantly lower plasma AdoMet/AdoHcy ratios and genomic DNA methylation. AdoMet concentrations were not significantly different between the two groups. More than 50% of the patients fell into the highest quartiles of plasma tHcy, AdoHcy, and [3H]dCTP incorporation/µg of DNA (meaning the lowest quartile of DNA methylation status) and into the lowest quartile of the AdoMet/AdoHcy ratios of the control group. Plasma tHcy was significantly correlated with plasma AdoHcy and AdoMet/AdoHcy ratios (n = 32; P < 0.001). DNA methylation status was significantly correlated with plasma tHcy and AdoHcy (n = 32; P < 0.01) but not with plasma AdoMet/AdoHcy ratios.
Conclusion: Global DNA methylation may be altered in vascular disease, with a concomitant increase in plasma tHcy and AdoHcy.
| Introduction |
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Hyperhomocysteinemia is a well-established risk factor for vascular disease, but the underlying pathogenic mechanism remains poorly understood, although thoroughly studied. Most studies have been focused on the direct effect of Hcy, but it was recently suggested that a chronic increase in AdoHcy (as a result of the Hcy-mediated reversal of the AdoHcy hydrolase reaction) might have significant pathologic consequences (12). Furthermore, the role of epigenetic alterations has emerged as a crucial mechanism for regulating genes responsible for cell proliferation in atherosclerosis (3). The present study was undertaken to assess the possible association between increased Hcy and epigenetic alterations in vascular disease. Plasma total homocysteine (tHcy), AdoMet, and AdoHcy concentrations, as well as leukocyte DNA methylation status, were evaluated in vascular disease and control groups. The results support the hypothesis that the pathogenic role of hyperhomocysteinemia in vascular disease might be mediated by AdoHcy accumulation and DNA hypomethylation.
| Materials and Methods |
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Blood samples were collected from all participants after overnight fasting by venipuncture into EDTA-containing tubes. One tube was immediately placed on ice and centrifuged at 4000g for 10 min at 4 °C. One plasma aliquot was stored at -20 °C until tHcy quantification, whereas 1000 µL was immediately deproteinized by adding 624 µL of 100 g/L perchloric acid and then stored at -20 °C until AdoMet and AdoHcy determinations. Hematologic analysis revealed no significant differences in the mononuclear vs polymorphonuclear cells ratios between the individuals of both groups. Genomic DNA was extracted from white blood cells according to standard phenolchloroform procedures (13)(14) and then stored at 4 °C until quantification of global DNA methylation.
tHcy, AdoMet, AND AdoHcy MEASUREMENTS
Plasma tHcy was quantified in the thawed aliquots by a specific immunoassay (IMx; Abbott Laboratories).
For plasma AdoMet and AdoHcy quantification, the deproteinized samples were thawed and centrifuged, and the obtained supernatant was analyzed by stable-isotope-dilution tandem mass spectrometry, as described previously in detail (15).
global dna methylation status
The global DNA methylation status was assessed by use of the cytosine extension assay (16). Briefly, 1 µg of genomic DNA was digested overnight with a methylation-sensitive endonuclease (HpaII), which left a single guanine overhang at unmethylated CpG sites. A second DNA aliquot was incubated without HpaII and served as background control. A single nucleotide extension with [3H]dCTP (Amersham Biosciences) was then performed. Duplicate 10-µL aliquots from each reaction were applied on Whatman DE-81 ion-exchange filters, dried, and washed three times with sodium phosphate buffer (pH 7.0) at room temperature. Filters were dried and processed for scintillation counting. Background radiolabel incorporation was subtracted from enzyme-treated samples, and the results were expressed as relative [3H]dCTP incorporation/µg of DNA. Incorporation of the radiolabel was considered proportional to the number of unmethylated (cleaved) sites in DNA. All samples were analyzed at the same time to minimize variation. The within-assay imprecision of the cytosine extension assay was <6%.
statistical analysis
Data are presented as medians and interquartile ranges. The distributions of plasma tHcy, AdoMet, and AdoHcy and the relative [3H]dCTP incorporation/µg of DNA were positively skewed and logarithmically transformed before further statistical analysis. Differences between patient and control groups were evaluated with the independent-samples Student t-test. Correlations were determined with the Spearman method; P values were two-tailed. Statistical significance was set at P <0.05.
| Results |
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We found no apparent association between plasma tHcy and AdoMet concentrations (data not shown). In addition, there was a significant correlation between DNA methylation status and plasma tHcy (r = 0.47, P <0.01) and plasma AdoHcy concentrations (r = 0.54; P <0.01; Fig. 3
), but no correlation with plasma AdoMet/AdoHcy ratios (data not shown).
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| Discussion |
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In the present report, patients with vascular disease had significantly higher plasma tHcy and AdoHcy concentrations, decreased plasma AdoMet/AdoHcy ratios, and lower global DNA methylation status compared with controls. Significantly, >50% of the patients fell into the highest quartiles for plasma tHcy and AdoHcy concentrations and into the lowest quartiles for plasma AdoMet/AdoHcy ratios and DNA methylation status for the controls (Fig. 1
). In addition, when patients and controls were considered together, the increase in plasma tHcy was highly correlated with a parallel increase in plasma AdoHcy (Fig. 2A
) and with a decrease in plasma AdoMet/AdoHcy ratios (Fig. 2B
), but not with plasma AdoMet. Moreover, plasma tHcy and AdoHcy were significantly correlated with the global DNA methylation status (Fig. 3
). However, we observed no correlation between plasma AdoMet concentrations or AdoMet/AdoHcy ratios and the global DNA methylation status. Similar observations have also been reported by Yi et al. (20).
The intracellular AdoMet/AdoHcy ratio has been used as a predictor of cellular methylation capacity. A significant correlation between plasma and lymphocyte AdoMet/AdoHcy ratios has been reported (12). This observation suggests that the plasma AdoMet/AdoHcy ratio may be used as a reasonable predictor of the cellular methylation status. In the present study, the lack of correlation between the plasma AdoMet/AdoHcy ratio and DNA methylation status could seem unexpected. However, the authors of two recent studies in humans (20) and animals (18) claimed that intracellular AdoHcy is a more reliable biomarker for cellular methylation status. Our findings are in accordance with this observation.
In conclusion, the present study shows that patients with vascular disease have disturbed global DNA methylation status associated with increased plasma tHcy and AdoHcy concentrations. Whether these observations contribute to the pathogenic role of hyperhomocysteinemia in vascular disease needs to be further ascertained.
| Acknowledgments |
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| Footnotes |
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| References |
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