Abstract
Purpose of Review: Epigenetic modifications via DNA methylation have previously been linked to blood lipid levels, dyslipidemias, and atherosclerosis. The purpose of this review is to discuss current literature on the role of DNA methylation on lipid traits and their associated pathologies. Recent Findings: Candidate gene and epigenome-wide approaches have identified differential methylation of genes associated with lipid traits (particularly CPT1A, ABCG1, SREBF1), and novel approaches are being implemented to further characterize these relationships. Moreover, studies on environmental factors have shown that methylation variations at lipid-related genes are associated with diet and pollution exposure. Summary: Further investigation is needed to elucidate the directionality of the associations between the environment, lipid traits, and epigenome. Future studies should also seek to increase the diversity of cohorts, as European and Asian ancestry populations are the predominant study populations in the current literature.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 71 |
| Journal | Current Atherosclerosis Reports |
| Volume | 23 |
| Issue number | 11 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Nov 2021 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:This work was supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH)—National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) R01HL091357 and the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) T32DK116672.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.
Keywords
- Atherosclerosis
- DNA methylation
- Dyslipidemia
- Epigenetics
- Lipids
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Cardiology and Cardiovascular Medicine