Epigenome-wide association study of perceived discrimination in the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA)
Perceived discrimination, recognized as a chronic psychosocial stressor, has adverse consequences on health. DNA methylation (DNAm) may be a potential mechanism by which stressors get embedded into the human body at the molecular level and subsequently affect health outcomes. However, relatively lit...
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Taylor & Francis Group
2025-12-01
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| Series: | Epigenetics |
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| Online Access: | https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/15592294.2024.2445447 |
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| author | Wei Zhao Lisha Lin Kristen M. Kelly Lauren A. Opsasnick Belinda L. Needham Yongmei Liu Srijan Sen Jennifer A. Smith |
| author_facet | Wei Zhao Lisha Lin Kristen M. Kelly Lauren A. Opsasnick Belinda L. Needham Yongmei Liu Srijan Sen Jennifer A. Smith |
| author_sort | Wei Zhao |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Perceived discrimination, recognized as a chronic psychosocial stressor, has adverse consequences on health. DNA methylation (DNAm) may be a potential mechanism by which stressors get embedded into the human body at the molecular level and subsequently affect health outcomes. However, relatively little is known about the effects of perceived discrimination on DNAm. To identify the DNAm sites across the epigenome that are associated with discrimination, we conducted epigenome-wide association analyses (EWAS) of three discrimination measures (everyday discrimination, race-related major discrimination, and non-race-related major discrimination) in 1,151 participants, including 565 non-Hispanic White, 221 African American, and 365 Hispanic individuals, from the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA). We conducted both race/ethnicity-stratified analyses as well as trans-ancestry meta-analyses. At false discovery rate of 10%, 7 CpGs and 4 differentially methylated regions (DMRs) containing 11 CpGs were associated with perceived discrimination exposures in at least one racial/ethnic group or in meta-analysis. Identified CpGs and/or nearby genes have been implicated in cellular development pathways, transcription factor binding, cancer and multiple autoimmune and/or inflammatory diseases. Of the identified CpGs (7 individual CpGs and 11 within DMRs), two CpGs and one CpG within a DMR were associated with expression of cis genes NDUFS5, AK1RIN1, NCF4 and ADSSL1. Our study demonstrated the potential influence of discrimination on DNAm and subsequent gene expression. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-22d2788c0e9645a2b11e91d39b6cdb93 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1559-2294 1559-2308 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-12-01 |
| publisher | Taylor & Francis Group |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Epigenetics |
| spelling | doaj-art-22d2788c0e9645a2b11e91d39b6cdb932025-01-18T15:33:18ZengTaylor & Francis GroupEpigenetics1559-22941559-23082025-12-0120110.1080/15592294.2024.2445447Epigenome-wide association study of perceived discrimination in the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA)Wei Zhao0Lisha Lin1Kristen M. Kelly2Lauren A. Opsasnick3Belinda L. Needham4Yongmei Liu5Srijan Sen6Jennifer A. Smith7Survey Research Center, Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USADepartment of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USAInstitute for Behavioral Genetics, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, USADepartment of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USADepartment of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USADepartment of Medicine, Divisions of Cardiology and Neurology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, USAMichigan Neuroscience Institute, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USASurvey Research Center, Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USAPerceived discrimination, recognized as a chronic psychosocial stressor, has adverse consequences on health. DNA methylation (DNAm) may be a potential mechanism by which stressors get embedded into the human body at the molecular level and subsequently affect health outcomes. However, relatively little is known about the effects of perceived discrimination on DNAm. To identify the DNAm sites across the epigenome that are associated with discrimination, we conducted epigenome-wide association analyses (EWAS) of three discrimination measures (everyday discrimination, race-related major discrimination, and non-race-related major discrimination) in 1,151 participants, including 565 non-Hispanic White, 221 African American, and 365 Hispanic individuals, from the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA). We conducted both race/ethnicity-stratified analyses as well as trans-ancestry meta-analyses. At false discovery rate of 10%, 7 CpGs and 4 differentially methylated regions (DMRs) containing 11 CpGs were associated with perceived discrimination exposures in at least one racial/ethnic group or in meta-analysis. Identified CpGs and/or nearby genes have been implicated in cellular development pathways, transcription factor binding, cancer and multiple autoimmune and/or inflammatory diseases. Of the identified CpGs (7 individual CpGs and 11 within DMRs), two CpGs and one CpG within a DMR were associated with expression of cis genes NDUFS5, AK1RIN1, NCF4 and ADSSL1. Our study demonstrated the potential influence of discrimination on DNAm and subsequent gene expression.https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/15592294.2024.2445447DiscriminationDNA methylationepigeneticspsychosocial stress |
| spellingShingle | Wei Zhao Lisha Lin Kristen M. Kelly Lauren A. Opsasnick Belinda L. Needham Yongmei Liu Srijan Sen Jennifer A. Smith Epigenome-wide association study of perceived discrimination in the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA) Epigenetics Discrimination DNA methylation epigenetics psychosocial stress |
| title | Epigenome-wide association study of perceived discrimination in the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA) |
| title_full | Epigenome-wide association study of perceived discrimination in the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA) |
| title_fullStr | Epigenome-wide association study of perceived discrimination in the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA) |
| title_full_unstemmed | Epigenome-wide association study of perceived discrimination in the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA) |
| title_short | Epigenome-wide association study of perceived discrimination in the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA) |
| title_sort | epigenome wide association study of perceived discrimination in the multi ethnic study of atherosclerosis mesa |
| topic | Discrimination DNA methylation epigenetics psychosocial stress |
| url | https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/15592294.2024.2445447 |
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