GCK Gene-Body Hypomethylation Is Associated with the Risk of Coronary Heart Disease

• Published in: BioMed research international 2014-01, Vol.2014 (2014), p.1-7
• Main Authors: Zhang, Lina, Liu, Panpan, Shi, Xinbao, Wang, Zhaoyang, Sun, Lebo, Zhou, Qingyun, Li, Ni, Huang, Yi, Le, Yanping, Ye, Meng, Shao, Guofeng, Duan, Shiwei, Xu, Limin, Liao, Qi, Xu, Leiting, Liu, Haibo, Zheng, Dawei, Wang, Lingyan, Jiang, Danjie
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Cardiovascular disease; Case-Control Studies; Cholesterol; Coronary Disease - enzymology; Coronary Disease - genetics; Coronary heart disease; CpG Islands; DNA methylation; DNA Methylation - genetics; Epigenetics; Female; Genetic Association Studies; Genetic Predisposition to Disease; Glucokinase - genetics; Humans; Isoenzymes; Male; Methylation; Risk Factors; Studies
• ISSN: 2314-6133; 2314-6141
• DOI: 10.1155/2014/151723

Objectives. Glucokinase encoded by GCK is a key enzyme that facilitates phosphorylation of glucose to glucose-6-phosphate. Variants of GCK gene were shown to be associated with type 2 diabetes (T2D) and coronary heart disease (CHD). The goal of this study was to investigate the contribution of GCK gene-body methylation to the risk of CHD. Design and Methods. 36 patients (18 males and 18 females) and 36 age- and sex-matched controls were collected for the current methylation research. DNA methylation level of the CpG island (CGI) region on the GCK gene-body was measured through the sodium bisulfite DNA conversion and pyrosequencing technology. Results. Our results indicated that CHD cases have a much lower methylation level (49.77 ± 6.43%) compared with controls (54.47 ± 7.65%, P=0.018). In addition, GCK gene-body methylation was found to be positively associated with aging in controls (r=0.443, P=0.010). Conclusions. Our study indicated that the hypomethylation of GCK gene-body was significantly associated with the risk of CHD. Aging correlates with an elevation of GCK methylation in healthy controls.