ArticleBMJ open2016
Psychological factors and DNA methylation of genes related to immune/inflammatory system markers: the VA Normative Aging Study.
Article in BMJ open, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 23 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
23 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 57 citations in OpenAlex.
- Epigenetic Pathways in Human Disease: The Impact of DNA Methylation on Stress-Related Pathogenesis and Current Challenges in Biomarker Development.EBioMedicine · 2017Pooled it
- Novel epigenetic and transcriptomic profiles of immune, inflammatory, and cellular transduction pathways are associated with chronic perceived stress in midlife women.Brain, behavior, & immunity - health · 2026Article
- Association between Life Satisfaction and Incident Stroke in Middle-Aged and Older Chinese Adults: A Prospective Cohort Study from the CHARLS.Cerebrovascular diseases extra · 2026Article
- Molecular frontiers in hemodialysis: unraveling the role of membranes in gene expression, epigenetics, and inflammatory pathways.International urology and nephrology · 2025Review
- Wonder symphony: epigenetics and the enchantment of the arts.Environmental epigenetics · 2024Review
- Glucocorticoid Receptor Gene (Alpha psychiatry · 2022Article
- Epigenetics in depression and gut-brain axis: A molecular crosstalk.Frontiers in aging neuroscience · 2022Review
- Exercise improves mental health status of young adultsFrontiers in psychiatry · 2022Article
- DNA methylation across the tree of life, from micro to macro-organism.Bioengineered · 2022Article
- Abnormal methylation characteristics predict chemoresistance and poor prognosis in advanced high-grade serous ovarian cancer.Clinical epigenetics · 2021Article
- Toll-like receptor 4 methylation grade is linked to depressive symptom severity.Translational psychiatry · 2021Article
- Epigenetic signatures underlying inflammation: an interplay of nutrition, physical activity, metabolic diseases, and environmental factors for personalized nutrition.Inflammation research : official journal of the European Histamine Research Society ... [et al.] · 2021Review
- Genomic and physiological resilience in extreme environments are associated with a secure attachment style.Translational psychiatry · 2020Article
- Twin Research in the Post-Genomic Era: Dissecting the Pathophysiological Effects of Adversity and the Social Environment.International journal of molecular sciences · 2020Review
- The longitudinal relationship between changes in wellbeing and inflammatory markers: Are associations independent of depression?Brain, behavior, and immunity · 2020Article
- 10-year ASCVD risk is positively correlated with depressive symptoms in a large general population.BMC psychiatry · 2019Article
- The role of DNA methylation in the association between childhood adversity and cardiometabolic disease.International journal of cardiology · 2018Review
- Article
- Psychological interventions for behavioral adjustments in diabetes care - a value-based approach to disease control.Psychology research and behavior management · 2018Review
- Investigating the epigenetic profile of the inflammatory gene IL-6 in late-life depression.BMC psychiatry · 2017Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
9 authors at 4 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
Abstract
objectivesAlthough psychological factors have been associated with chronic diseases such as coronary heart disease (CHD), the underlying pathways for these associations have yet to be elucidated. DNA methylation has been posited as a mechanism linking psychological factors to CHD risk. In a cohort of community-dwelling elderly men, we explored the associations between positive and negative psychological factors with DNA methylation in promoter regions of multiple genes involved in immune/inflammatory processes related to atherosclerosis.
designProspective cohort study.
settingGreater Boston, Massachusetts area.
participantsSamples of 538 to 669 men participating in the Normative Aging Study cohort with psychological measures and DNA methylation measures, collected on 1-4 visits between 1999 and 2006 (mean age=72.7 years at first visit). OUTCOME MEASURES: We examined anxiety, depression, hostility and life satisfaction as predictors of leucocyte gene-specific DNA methylation. We estimated repeated measures linear mixed models, controlling for age, smoking, education, history of heart disease, stroke or diabetes, % lymphocytes, % monocytes and plasma folate.
resultsPsychological distress measured by anxiety, depression and hostility was positively associated, and happiness and life satisfaction were inversely associated with average Intercellular Adhesion Molecule-1 (ICAM-1) and coagulation factor III (F3) promoter methylation levels. There was some evidence that hostility was positively associated with toll-like receptor 2 (TLR-2) promoter methylation, and that life satisfaction was inversely associated with TLR-2 and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) promoter methylation. We observed less consistent and significant associations between psychological factors and average methylation for promoters of the genes for glucocorticoid receptor (NR3C1), interferon-γ (IFN-γ) and interleukin 6 (IL-6).
conclusionsThese findings suggest that positive and negative psychological factors affect DNA methylation of selected genes involved in chronic immune/inflammatory processes and inflammation-related endothelial dysfunction. Such epigenetic changes may represent biological pathways that mediate the effects of psychological factors on CHD.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.