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Review
. 2022 Mar;12(3):e12131.
doi: 10.1002/clt2.12131.

DNA methylation biomarkers in asthma and rhinitis: Are we there yet?

Evangelia Legaki  1 , Christos Arsenis  1 , Styliani Taka  1 , Nikolaos G Papadopoulos  1
Affiliations
Review

DNA methylation biomarkers in asthma and rhinitis: Are we there yet?

Evangelia Legaki et al. Clin Transl Allergy. 2022 Mar.

Abstract

The study of epigenetics has improved our understanding of mechanisms underpinning gene-environment interactions and is providing new insights in the pathophysiology of respiratory allergic diseases. We reviewed the literature on DNA methylation patterns across different tissues in asthma and/or rhinitis and attempted to elucidate differentially methylated loci that could be used to characterize asthma or rhinitis. Although nasal and bronchial epithelia are similar in their histological structure and cellular composition, genetic and epigenetic regulation may differ across tissues. Advanced methods have enabled comprehensive, high-throughput methylation profiling of different tissues (bronchial or nasal epithelial cells, whole blood or isolated mononuclear cells), in subjects with respiratory conditions, aiming to elucidate gene regulation mechanisms and identify new biomarkers. Several genes and CpGs have been suggested as asthma biomarkers, though research on allergic rhinitis is still lacking. The most common differentially methylated loci presented in both blood and nasal samples are ACOT7, EPX, KCNH2, SIGLEC8, TNIK, FOXP1, ATPAF2, ZNF862, ADORA3, ARID3A, IL5RA, METRNL and ZFPM1. Overall, there is substantial variation among studies, (i.e. sample sizes, age groups and disease phenotype). Greater variability of analysis method detailed phenotypic characterization and age stratification should be taken into account in future studies.

Keywords: DNA methylation; DNA-methylierung; allergic respiratory diseases; allergic rhinitis; allergische atemwegserkrankungen; allergischer schnupfen; asthma; epigenetik.

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Conflict of interest statement

We have no conflict of interest to declare.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
(A) Venn diagram representing the shared differentially methylated gene loci associated with atopic asthma in nasal epithelium samples among three large EWAS: Project Viva, Inner City Consortium, EVA PR study. B, Venn diagram representing the shared differentially methylated gene loci associated with allergic sensitization and allergic asthma in whole blood samples among four large EWAS
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Cytoscape diagram presenting the network of common differentially methylated genes in at least three studies and the enriched pathways are implicated using reactome‐pathway analysis tool
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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