TY - JOUR
T1 - DNA methylation patterns associated with konzo in Sub-Saharan Africa
AU - Kocher, Kristen
AU - Bhattacharya, Surajit
AU - Bramble, Matthew S.
AU - Okitundu-Luwa, Daniel
AU - Ngoyi, Dieudonne Mumba
AU - Tshala-Katumbay, Desire
AU - Vilain, Eric
N1 - Funding Information:
We would also like to thank the funding sources for this project, with DTK being supported by NIH grant NIEHS/FIC R01ES019841, EV being supported by the A. James Clark Distinguished Professor of Molecular Genetics Endowment and MSB being supported by the Fogarty International Center of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) under Award Number D43TW009343 and the University of California Global Health Institute (UCGHI); the content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the NIH or UCGHI. MSB is supported by the Fogarty International Center of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) under award number 5K01TW011772-02.
Funding Information:
We would like to thank the Congolese participants of this study for kindly donating specimens. We would also to acknowledge the passing of Jean-Pierre Banea Mayambu, a pioneer in the field of konzo, who will truly be missed.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022, The Author(s).
PY - 2022/12
Y1 - 2022/12
N2 - Konzo, a disease characterized by sudden, irreversible spastic paraparesis, affecting up to 10% of the population in some regions of Sub-Saharan Africa during outbreaks, is strongly associated with dietary exposure to cyanogenic bitter cassava. The molecular mechanisms underlying the development of konzo remain largely unknown. Here, through an analysis of 16 individuals with konzo and matched healthy controls from the same outbreak zones, we identified 117 differentially methylated loci involved in numerous biological processes that may identify cyanogenic-sensitive regions of the genome, providing the first study of epigenomic alterations associated with a clinical phenotype of konzo.
AB - Konzo, a disease characterized by sudden, irreversible spastic paraparesis, affecting up to 10% of the population in some regions of Sub-Saharan Africa during outbreaks, is strongly associated with dietary exposure to cyanogenic bitter cassava. The molecular mechanisms underlying the development of konzo remain largely unknown. Here, through an analysis of 16 individuals with konzo and matched healthy controls from the same outbreak zones, we identified 117 differentially methylated loci involved in numerous biological processes that may identify cyanogenic-sensitive regions of the genome, providing the first study of epigenomic alterations associated with a clinical phenotype of konzo.
KW - Cassava
KW - Cyanide
KW - DNA methylation
KW - Epigenetics
KW - Konzo
KW - Sub-Saharan Africa
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U2 - 10.1186/s13148-022-01372-x
DO - 10.1186/s13148-022-01372-x
M3 - Article
C2 - 36536449
AN - SCOPUS:85144298997
VL - 14
JO - Clinical Epigenetics
JF - Clinical Epigenetics
SN - 1868-7075
IS - 1
M1 - 179
ER -