Particulate Pollution, Susceptibility, and Epigenetic Pathways in an Elderly Cohort

DNA methylation is a potential pathway linking environmental exposures to disease, and lower blood DNA methylation has been found in processes related to cardiovascular morbidity. Genetic and other host characteristics, such as psychological functioning, have been found to modify the association between air pollution and morbidity. In our study, DNA methylation of repetitive elements, as well as specific genes, was measured in 1406 blood samples from 706 elderly participants in the Normative Aging Study (NAS). We will discuss our estimated changes in repetitive element DNA methylation, as well as two specific genes (the inducible nitric oxide synthase gene, iNOS, and the glucocorticoid receptor gene, GCR) associated with ambient particles (PM2.5) and black carbon (BC), with mixed models.