TY - JOUR
T1 - Differential DNA Methylation by Hispanic Ethnicity Among Firefighters in the United States
AU - Goodrich, Jaclyn M.
AU - Furlong, Melissa A.
AU - Caban-Martinez, Alberto J.
AU - Jung, Alesia M.
AU - Batai, Ken
AU - Jenkins, Timothy
AU - Beitel, Shawn
AU - Littau, Sally
AU - Gulotta, John
AU - Wallentine, Darin
AU - Hughes, Jeff
AU - Popp, Charles
AU - Calkins, Miriam M.
AU - Burgess, Jefferey L.
N1 - Funding Information:
We first and foremost acknowledge the firefighter participants for graciously volunteering their time and samples to be in the study. We also acknowledge the partnering fire departments and their locals for their contribution to this research. We acknowledge Alisa Dewald at the University of Michigan for sample preparation. The University of Michigan Advanced Genomics Core and the University of Utah DNA Sequencing and Genomics Core Facility completed the EPIC analyses. The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This research was supported by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), specifically by supplements to the P30 Centers at the University of Arizona (Grant No. P30 ES006694) and the University of Michigan (Grant No. P30 ES017885). MF was supported by NIEHS Grant No. K99ES028743. The US Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) also supported this work (Grant Nos. EMW-2014-FP-00200, EMW-2015-FP-00213, and EMW-2018-FP-00086). The findings and conclusions in this paper are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Mention of trade names and commercial products does not constitute endorsement or recommendation for use by NIOSH.
Funding Information:
The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This research was supported by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), specifically by supplements to the P30 Centers at the University of Arizona (Grant No. P30 ES006694) and the University of Michigan (Grant No. P30 ES017885). MF was supported by NIEHS Grant No. K99ES028743. The US Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) also supported this work (Grant Nos. EMW-2014-FP-00200, EMW-2015-FP-00213, and EMW-2018-FP-00086). The findings and conclusions in this paper are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Mention of trade names and commercial products does not constitute endorsement or recommendation for use by NIOSH.
Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2021.
PY - 2021
Y1 - 2021
N2 - Firefighters are exposed to a variety of environmental hazards and are at increased risk for multiple cancers. There is evidence that risks differ by ethnicity, yet the biological or environmental differences underlying these differences are not known. DNA methylation is one type of epigenetic regulation that is altered in cancers. In this pilot study, we profiled DNA methylation with the Infinium MethylationEPIC in blood leukocytes from 31 Hispanic white and 163 non-Hispanic white firefighters. We compared DNA methylation (1) at 12 xenobiotic metabolizing genes and (2) at all loci on the array (>740 000), adjusting for confounders. Five of the xenobiotic metabolizing genes were differentially methylated at a raw P-value <.05 when comparing the 2 ethnic groups, yet were not statistically significant at a 5% false discovery rate (q-value <.05). In the epigenome-wide analysis, 76 loci exhibited DNA methylation differences at q <.05. Among these, 3 CpG sites in the promoter region of the biotransformation gene SULT1C2 had lower methylation in Hispanic compared to non-Hispanic firefighters. Other differentially methylated loci included genes that have been implicated in carcinogenesis in published studies (FOXK2, GYLTL1B, ZBTB16, ARHGEF10, and more). In this pilot study, we report differential DNA methylation between Hispanic and non-Hispanic firefighters in xenobiotic metabolism genes and other genes with functions related to cancer. Epigenetic susceptibility by ethnicity merits further study as this may alter risk for cancers linked to toxic exposures.
AB - Firefighters are exposed to a variety of environmental hazards and are at increased risk for multiple cancers. There is evidence that risks differ by ethnicity, yet the biological or environmental differences underlying these differences are not known. DNA methylation is one type of epigenetic regulation that is altered in cancers. In this pilot study, we profiled DNA methylation with the Infinium MethylationEPIC in blood leukocytes from 31 Hispanic white and 163 non-Hispanic white firefighters. We compared DNA methylation (1) at 12 xenobiotic metabolizing genes and (2) at all loci on the array (>740 000), adjusting for confounders. Five of the xenobiotic metabolizing genes were differentially methylated at a raw P-value <.05 when comparing the 2 ethnic groups, yet were not statistically significant at a 5% false discovery rate (q-value <.05). In the epigenome-wide analysis, 76 loci exhibited DNA methylation differences at q <.05. Among these, 3 CpG sites in the promoter region of the biotransformation gene SULT1C2 had lower methylation in Hispanic compared to non-Hispanic firefighters. Other differentially methylated loci included genes that have been implicated in carcinogenesis in published studies (FOXK2, GYLTL1B, ZBTB16, ARHGEF10, and more). In this pilot study, we report differential DNA methylation between Hispanic and non-Hispanic firefighters in xenobiotic metabolism genes and other genes with functions related to cancer. Epigenetic susceptibility by ethnicity merits further study as this may alter risk for cancers linked to toxic exposures.
KW - Occupational health
KW - epigenome-wide analysis study
KW - health disparities
KW - occupational exposures
KW - xenobiotic metabolism
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U2 - 10.1177/25168657211006159
DO - 10.1177/25168657211006159
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85103156694
VL - 14
JO - Epigenetics Insights
JF - Epigenetics Insights
SN - 2516-8657
ER -
