👤 Bożena Wysocka

Smoking is the leading cause of accelerated aging and death worldwide. Therefore, identifying and intervening at smoke-responsive DNA methylation markers may be a primary way to reduce mortality risk in the population. Many studies have investigated the association between smoking and DNA methylation in blood samples. Only a few studies have examined saliva and buccal cells in this regard. Here, we determined DNA methylation profiles in buccal cells from a total of 280 individuals. Epigenome-wide association analysis (N = 200) uncovered 61 CpG markers, including novel ones, that were significantly associated with smoke exposure in this tissue type. Functional analysis showed that they were overrepresented in the Wnt signaling pathway and fatty acid metabolism. We confirmed that AHRR, a known smoking marker in blood, is also a top locus in buccal cells. However, cg06036945 (p = 1.76 × 10 Show less

Facial wrinkling is a prominent sign of aging, yet individuals exhibit unique trajectories of biological aging, contributing to the variability in facial appearance. Here, we present a pioneering study exploring the association between lifestyle choices, DNA methylation, and SNP genotypes with a range of facial skin aging phenotypes. The study demonstrated that age-related facial skin phenotypes are influenced by multiple environmental stressors. Epigenome-wide association analyses identified differentially methylated cytosines mapped to 151 loci, including novel genes associated with facial wrinkles, such as EDAR (cg02925966, p = 4.96 × 10 Show less

Cholesteryl ester transfer protein (CETP) and phospholipid transfer protein (PLTP) are crucial proteins in reverse cholesterol transport. There are insufficient data on regulating these proteins by insulin therapy in type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM). We aimed to assess prospectively the impact of insulin therapy initiation on transfer proteins serum levels in adults with newly diagnosed T1DM. 57 adults with newly diagnosed T1DM were enrolled in the InLipoDiab1 Study. All participants were treated with subcutaneous insulin in the model of intensive insulin therapy since the diagnosis of diabetes. Serum PLTP and CETP concentrations were measured at diagnosis, after three weeks, six months, and after one year of insulin treatment, using the immunoenzymatic method ELISA. A significant decrease in PLTP and CETP concentrations were demonstrated during twelve months of insulin therapy in newly diagnosed T1DM. The dynamics of changes in the level of these proteins varied depending on the occurrence of remission after a year of the disease. In the group without remission, a significant decrease in PLTP and CETP levels appeared after six months of follow-up. The remission group was characterized by a decrease in proteins concentration only after one year of treatment. In the non-remission group, significant negative correlations were found between the daily dose of insulin and levels of PLTP and CETP. Exogenous insulin is an inhibitor of lipid transfer proteins involved in high-density lipoprotein cholesterol metabolism in the first year of treatment. Show less