Secondhand smoke in combination with ambient air pollution exposure is associated with increasedx CpG methylation and decreased expression of IFN-? in T effector cells and Foxp3 in T regulatory cells in children.

Secondhand smoke in combination with ambient air pollution exposure is associated with increasedx CpG methylation and decreased expression of IFN-? in T effector cells and Foxp3 in T regulatory cells in children. Clinical epigenetics Kohli, A., Garcia, M. A., Miller, R. L., Maher, C., Humblet, O., Hammond, S. K., Nadeau, K. 2012; 4 (1): 17-?

Abstract

Secondhand smoke (SHS) and ambient air pollution (AAP) exposures have been associated with increased prevalence and severity of asthma and DNA modifications of immune cells. In the current study, we examined the association between SHS and AAP with DNA methylation and expression of interferon-gamma (IFN-?) and forkhead box protein 3 (Foxp3) in T cell populations.Subjects 7-18?years old were recruited from Fresno (high AAP; n?=?62) and Stanford, CA (low AAP; n?=?40) and divided into SHS-exposed (Fresno: n?=?31, Stanford: n?=?6) and non-SHS-exposed (nSHS; Fresno: n?=?31, Stanford: n?=?34) groups. T cells purified from peripheral blood were assessed for levels of DNA methylation and expression of IFN-? (in effector T cells) or Foxp3 (in regulatory T cells).Analysis showed a significant increase in mean % CpG methylation of IFN-? and Foxp3 associated with SHS exposure (IFN-?: FSHS 62.10%, FnSHS 41.29%, p?

View details for DOI 10.1186/1868-7083-4-17

View details for PubMedID 23009259

View details for PubMedCentralID PMC3483214