Genome-wide DNA methylation analyses of human blood lipid levels and functional analyses of lipid-associated CpG sites

This work investigates the association between genome-wide DNA methylation patterns and human blood lipid levels (HDL-C, LDL-C, triglycerides, total cholesterol) as well as lipoprotein subfractions by carrying out epigenome-wide association studies (EWAS). The results reveal associations between lipids and methylation of CpG sites located in genes which are involved in lipid, fatty acid and amino acid metabolism. Moreover, functional analyses of lipid-associated CpG sites detected methylation-dependent gene regulation.