Epigenome-wide association study of fasting blood lipids in the Genetics of Lipid-lowering Drugs and Diet Network study.

Background: Genetic research regarding blood lipids has largely focused on DNA sequence variation; few studies have explored epigenetic effects. Genome-wide surveys of DNA methylation may uncover epigenetic factors influencing lipid metabolism.

Methods And Results: To identify whether differential methylation of cytosine-(phosphate)-guanine dinucleotides (CpGs) correlated with lipid phenotypes, we isolated DNA from CD4+ T cells and quantified the proportion of sample methylation at >450 000 CpGs by using the Illumina Infinium HumanMethylation450 Beadchip in 991 participants of the Genetics of Lipid Lowering Drugs and Diet Network.