@article {423, title = {Identification, heritability, and relation with gene expression of novel DNA methylation loci for blood pressure}, journal = {Hypertension}, volume = {76}, year = {2020}, pages = {195{\textendash}205}, abstract = {

We conducted an epigenome-wide association study meta-analysis on blood pressure (BP) in 4820 individuals of European and African ancestry aged 14 to 69. Genome-wide DNA methylation data from peripheral leukocytes were obtained using the Infinium Human Methylation 450k BeadChip. The epigenome-wide association study meta-analysis identified 39 BP-related CpG sites with P\<1$\times$10-5. In silico replication in the CHARGE consortium of 17 010 individuals validated 16 of these CpG sites. Out of the 16 CpG sites, 13 showed novel association with BP. Conversely, out of the 126 CpG sites identified as being associated (P\<1$\times$10-7) with BP in the CHARGE consortium, 21 were replicated in the current study. Methylation levels of all the 34 CpG sites that were cross-validated by the current study and the CHARGE consortium were heritable and 6 showed association with gene expression. Furthermore, 9 CpG sites also showed association with BP with P\<0.05 and consistent direction of the effect in the meta-analysis of the Finnish Twin Cohort (199 twin pairs and 4 singletons; 61\% monozygous) and the Netherlands Twin Register (266 twin pairs and 62 singletons; 84\% monozygous). Bivariate quantitative genetic modeling of the twin data showed that a majority of the phenotypic correlations between methylation levels of these CpG sites and BP could be explained by shared unique environmental rather than genetic factors, with 100\% of the correlations of systolic BP with cg19693031 (TXNIP) and cg00716257 (JDP2) determined by environmental effects acting on both systolic BP and methylation levels.

}, keywords = {blood pressure, DNA methylation, epigenome, hypertension, twin study}, doi = {10.1161/HYPERTENSIONAHA.120.14973}, author = {Huang, Yisong and Ollikainen, Miina and Muniandy, Maheswary and Zhang, Tao and van Dongen, Jenny and Hao, Guang and van der Most, Peter J and Pan, Yue and Pervjakova, Natalia and Sun, Yan V and Hui, Qin and Lahti, Jari and Fraszczyk, Eliza and Lu, Xueling and Sun, Dianjianyi and Richard, Melissa A and Willemsen, Gonneke and Heikkil{\"a}, Kauko and Mateo Leach, Irene and Mononen, Nina and K{\"a}h{\"o}nen, Mika and Hurme, Mikko A and Raitakari, Olli T and Drake, Amanda J and Perola, Markus and Nuotio, Marja-Liisa and Huang, Yunfeng and Khulan, Batbayar and R{\"a}ikk{\"o}nen, Katri and Wolffenbuttel, Bruce H R and Zhernakova, Alexandra and Fu, Jingyuan and Zhu, Haidong and Dong, Yanbin and van Vliet-Ostaptchouk, Jana V and Franke, Lude and Eriksson, Johan G and Fornage, Myriam and Milani, Lili and Lehtim{\"a}ki, Terho and Vaccarino, Viola and Boomsma, Dorret I and van der Harst, Pim and de Geus, Eco J C and Salomaa, Veikko and Li, Shengxu and Chen, Wei and Su, Shaoyong and Wilson, James and Snieder, Harold and Kaprio, Jaakko and Wang, Xiaoling} } @article {201, title = {Externalizing problems in childhood and adolescence predict subsequent educational achievement but for different genetic and environmental reasons}, journal = {Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry}, volume = {58}, year = {2017}, pages = {292{\textendash}304}, abstract = {

Background

Childhood behavior problems predict subsequent educational achievement; however, little research has examined the etiology of these links using a longitudinal twin design. Moreover, it is unknown whether genetic and environmental innovations provide incremental prediction for educational achievement from childhood to adolescence.

Methods

We examined genetic and environmental influences on parental ratings of behavior problems across childhood (age 4) and adolescence (ages 12 and 16) as predictors of educational achievement at age 16 using a longitudinal classical twin design.

Results

Shared-environmental influences on anxiety, conduct problems, and peer problems at age 4 predicted educational achievement at age 16. Genetic influences on the externalizing behaviors of conduct problems and hyperactivity at age 4 predicted educational achievement at age 16. Moreover, novel genetic and (to a lesser extent) nonshared-environmental influences acting on conduct problems and hyperactivity emerged at ages 12 and 16, adding to the genetic prediction from age 4.

Conclusions

These findings demonstrate that genetic and shared-environmental factors underpinning behavior problems in early childhood predict educational achievement in midadolescence. These findings are consistent with the notion that early-childhood behavior problems reflect the initiation of a life-course persistent trajectory with concomitant implications for social attainment. However, we also find evidence that genetic and nonshared-environment innovations acting on behavior problems have implications for subsequent educational achievement, consistent with recent work arguing that adolescence represents a sensitive period for socioaffective development.

}, keywords = {behavior problems, Education, genetics, longitudinal, Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire, twin study}, issn = {1469-7610}, doi = {10.1111/jcpp.12655}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/jcpp.12655}, author = {Lewis, Gary J. and Asbury, Kathryn and Robert Plomin} }