Junxi Feng, Liudmilla Rubbi, Reza Kianian, Jesse Nelson Mills, Vadim Osadchiy, John Tucker Sigalos, Sriram Venkata Eleswarapu, Matteo Pellegrini
{"title":"Epigenetic aging of semen is associated with inflammation.","authors":"Junxi Feng, Liudmilla Rubbi, Reza Kianian, Jesse Nelson Mills, Vadim Osadchiy, John Tucker Sigalos, Sriram Venkata Eleswarapu, Matteo Pellegrini","doi":"10.1080/15592294.2024.2436304","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Male infertility has been a primary cause of global infertility, affecting 8-12% of couples worldwide. Previous studies have shown that semen quality decreases with advanced aging with an increased presence of inflammatory cells. In this study, we examined changes in the epigenome across a diverse cohort that includes both fertile and infertile men. We also compare the age-associated changes in semen to those observed in buccal swabs in order to characterize differences in epigenetic aging across diverse tissues. We found that variations in the semen methylome associated with aging are linked to inflammatory genes. Many age-associated sites are demethylated with advanced aging and are associated with the activation of inflammatory pathways. By contrast, we do not observe age-associated changes in inflammatory genes in buccal swab methylomes, which instead are characterized by changes to bivalent promoters. Our findings highlight the potential of epigenetic markers as indicators of male reproductive health.</p>","PeriodicalId":11767,"journal":{"name":"Epigenetics","volume":"19 1","pages":"2436304"},"PeriodicalIF":2.9000,"publicationDate":"2024-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11622584/pdf/","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Epigenetics","FirstCategoryId":"99","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1080/15592294.2024.2436304","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"2024/12/5 0:00:00","PubModel":"Epub","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"BIOCHEMISTRY & MOLECULAR BIOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Male infertility has been a primary cause of global infertility, affecting 8-12% of couples worldwide. Previous studies have shown that semen quality decreases with advanced aging with an increased presence of inflammatory cells. In this study, we examined changes in the epigenome across a diverse cohort that includes both fertile and infertile men. We also compare the age-associated changes in semen to those observed in buccal swabs in order to characterize differences in epigenetic aging across diverse tissues. We found that variations in the semen methylome associated with aging are linked to inflammatory genes. Many age-associated sites are demethylated with advanced aging and are associated with the activation of inflammatory pathways. By contrast, we do not observe age-associated changes in inflammatory genes in buccal swab methylomes, which instead are characterized by changes to bivalent promoters. Our findings highlight the potential of epigenetic markers as indicators of male reproductive health.
期刊介绍:
Epigenetics publishes peer-reviewed original research and review articles that provide an unprecedented forum where epigenetic mechanisms and their role in diverse biological processes can be revealed, shared, and discussed.
Epigenetics research studies heritable changes in gene expression caused by mechanisms others than the modification of the DNA sequence. Epigenetics therefore plays critical roles in a variety of biological systems, diseases, and disciplines. Topics of interest include (but are not limited to):
DNA methylation
Nucleosome positioning and modification
Gene silencing
Imprinting
Nuclear reprogramming
Chromatin remodeling
Non-coding RNA
Non-histone chromosomal elements
Dosage compensation
Nuclear organization
Epigenetic therapy and diagnostics
Nutrition and environmental epigenetics
Cancer epigenetics
Neuroepigenetics