Alcohol consumption and DNA methylation: an epigenome-wide association study within the French E3N cohort
Abstract Background Alcohol consumption can have harmful effects on health, depending on the quantity and frequency. Understanding the underlying molecular mechanisms is essential to grasp its health consequences. The study aimed to assess the association between alcohol consumption and blood DNA me...
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2025-07-01
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| Series: | Clinical Epigenetics |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1186/s13148-025-01893-1 |
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| author | Dzevka Dragic Fanny Artaud Mojgan Karimi Thérèse Truong Laura Baglietto Jean-François Deleuze Caroline Diorio Gianluca Severi |
| author_facet | Dzevka Dragic Fanny Artaud Mojgan Karimi Thérèse Truong Laura Baglietto Jean-François Deleuze Caroline Diorio Gianluca Severi |
| author_sort | Dzevka Dragic |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Background Alcohol consumption can have harmful effects on health, depending on the quantity and frequency. Understanding the underlying molecular mechanisms is essential to grasp its health consequences. The study aimed to assess the association between alcohol consumption and blood DNA methylation, an epigenetic mechanism that controls gene expression. Methods The epigenome-wide association study (EWAS) included 1,538 women from a case-cohort study within the French E3N cohort. Weighted linear mixed-effects models were used to assess the associations between self-reported alcohol consumption (in g/day in 1993) and DNA methylation at 715,986 CpGs measured with the HumanMethylationEPIC Beadchip. Women were cancer-free at blood collection in 1995–1999. Results Of the 715,986 sites analyzed, 19,255 were associated with alcohol consumption (FDR < 0.05). Over-representation analysis highlighted enrichment of genes involved in cancer, the nervous system and aging. Of these 19,255 sites, 1,528 were replicated in an independent case–control study, with 85 also identified in other EWAS. Notably, at least six studies reported sites in SLC7A11, ANP32B, MCM2, HNRNPA1, SNORD30, and TRA2B genes. Conclusions Several potential methylation markers for alcohol consumption, documented prior to blood sampling, have been identified. The link between these sites and chronic diseases should be investigated to understand the molecular mechanisms underlying the harmful effects of alcohol consumption on health. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-cbd34a30dc404c1ab258b9dac6016b52 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1868-7083 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-07-01 |
| publisher | BMC |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Clinical Epigenetics |
| spelling | doaj-art-cbd34a30dc404c1ab258b9dac6016b522025-08-20T03:43:03ZengBMCClinical Epigenetics1868-70832025-07-0117111810.1186/s13148-025-01893-1Alcohol consumption and DNA methylation: an epigenome-wide association study within the French E3N cohortDzevka Dragic0Fanny Artaud1Mojgan Karimi2Thérèse Truong3Laura Baglietto4Jean-François Deleuze5Caroline Diorio6Gianluca Severi7Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Université LavalUniversité Paris-Saclay, UVSQ, Inserm, Gustave Roussy, CESP, U1018, INSERM, Hôpital Paul BrousseUniversité Paris-Saclay, UVSQ, Inserm, Gustave Roussy, CESP, U1018, INSERM, Hôpital Paul BrousseUniversité Paris-Saclay, UVSQ, Inserm, Gustave Roussy, CESP, U1018, INSERM, Hôpital Paul BrousseUniversité Paris-Saclay, UVSQ, Inserm, Gustave Roussy, CESP, U1018, INSERM, Hôpital Paul BrousseCentre National de Recherche en Génomique Humaine (CNRGH), Université Paris-Saclay, CEADepartment of Social and Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Université LavalUniversité Paris-Saclay, UVSQ, Inserm, Gustave Roussy, CESP, U1018, INSERM, Hôpital Paul BrousseAbstract Background Alcohol consumption can have harmful effects on health, depending on the quantity and frequency. Understanding the underlying molecular mechanisms is essential to grasp its health consequences. The study aimed to assess the association between alcohol consumption and blood DNA methylation, an epigenetic mechanism that controls gene expression. Methods The epigenome-wide association study (EWAS) included 1,538 women from a case-cohort study within the French E3N cohort. Weighted linear mixed-effects models were used to assess the associations between self-reported alcohol consumption (in g/day in 1993) and DNA methylation at 715,986 CpGs measured with the HumanMethylationEPIC Beadchip. Women were cancer-free at blood collection in 1995–1999. Results Of the 715,986 sites analyzed, 19,255 were associated with alcohol consumption (FDR < 0.05). Over-representation analysis highlighted enrichment of genes involved in cancer, the nervous system and aging. Of these 19,255 sites, 1,528 were replicated in an independent case–control study, with 85 also identified in other EWAS. Notably, at least six studies reported sites in SLC7A11, ANP32B, MCM2, HNRNPA1, SNORD30, and TRA2B genes. Conclusions Several potential methylation markers for alcohol consumption, documented prior to blood sampling, have been identified. The link between these sites and chronic diseases should be investigated to understand the molecular mechanisms underlying the harmful effects of alcohol consumption on health.https://doi.org/10.1186/s13148-025-01893-1Alcohol consumptionDNA methylationEpigenetic biomarkersCase-cohort designEpigenome-wide association study |
| spellingShingle | Dzevka Dragic Fanny Artaud Mojgan Karimi Thérèse Truong Laura Baglietto Jean-François Deleuze Caroline Diorio Gianluca Severi Alcohol consumption and DNA methylation: an epigenome-wide association study within the French E3N cohort Clinical Epigenetics Alcohol consumption DNA methylation Epigenetic biomarkers Case-cohort design Epigenome-wide association study |
| title | Alcohol consumption and DNA methylation: an epigenome-wide association study within the French E3N cohort |
| title_full | Alcohol consumption and DNA methylation: an epigenome-wide association study within the French E3N cohort |
| title_fullStr | Alcohol consumption and DNA methylation: an epigenome-wide association study within the French E3N cohort |
| title_full_unstemmed | Alcohol consumption and DNA methylation: an epigenome-wide association study within the French E3N cohort |
| title_short | Alcohol consumption and DNA methylation: an epigenome-wide association study within the French E3N cohort |
| title_sort | alcohol consumption and dna methylation an epigenome wide association study within the french e3n cohort |
| topic | Alcohol consumption DNA methylation Epigenetic biomarkers Case-cohort design Epigenome-wide association study |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1186/s13148-025-01893-1 |
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