Global DNA methylation changes in treated and untreated MS patients measured over time

I S Brorson; A M Eriksson; E Høgestøl; I S Leikfoss; H F Harbo; T Berge; V Vitelli; S D Bos

doi:10.1016/j.jneuroim.2022.577808

Global DNA methylation changes in treated and untreated MS patients measured over time

J Neuroimmunol. 2022 Mar 15:364:577808. doi: 10.1016/j.jneuroim.2022.577808. Epub 2022 Jan 7.

Authors

I S Brorson¹, A M Eriksson², E Høgestøl², I S Leikfoss², H F Harbo², T Berge³, V Vitelli⁴, S D Bos²

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway; Department of Neurology, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway. Electronic address: i.s.brorson@medisin.uio.no.
² Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway; Department of Neurology, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway.
³ Department of Research, Innovation and Education, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway; Department of Mechanical, Electronics and Chemical Engineering, OsloMet - Oslo Metropolitan University, Oslo, Norway.
⁴ Oslo Centre for Biostatistics and Epidemiology, Department of Biostatistics University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.

PMID: 35093762
DOI: 10.1016/j.jneuroim.2022.577808

Abstract

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune, neurological disease. We investigated genome-wide DNA methylation profiles of CD4⁺ and CD8⁺ T cells from MS patients and healthy controls at baseline and a follow-up visit. Patients were all treatment-naïve at baseline, and either on treatment or remained untreated at the follow-up visit. MS patients show more changes in their T cell DNA methylation profiles as compared to healthy controls over time, with the most pronounced differences observed in the untreated MS patients. These findings underline the potential of DNA methylation as biomarkers in MS.

Keywords: CD4(+) T cells; CD8(+) T cells; DNA methylation; Differentially methylated position; Epigenetics; Multiple sclerosis.

MeSH terms

Adult
CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes / immunology*
CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes / immunology*
DNA Methylation / immunology*
Female
Humans
Immunosuppressive Agents / therapeutic use
Middle Aged
Multiple Sclerosis, Relapsing-Remitting / drug therapy*
Multiple Sclerosis, Relapsing-Remitting / immunology*
Transcriptome

Substances

Immunosuppressive Agents