Stanford Advisors


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  • Genome-wide DNA methylation analysis in female veterans with military sexual trauma and comorbid PTSD/MDD. Journal of affective disorders Marra, P., Seki, T., Nishizawa, Y., Chang, G., Yamanishi, K., Nishiguchi, T., Shibata, K., Braun, P., Shinozaki, G. 2024

    Abstract

    Military sexual trauma (MST) is a prevalent issue within the U.S. military. Victims are more likely to develop comorbid diseases such as posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and major depressive disorder (MDD). Nonetheless, not everyone who suffers from MST develops PTSD and/or MDD. DNA methylation, which can regulate gene expression, might give us insight into the molecular mechanisms behind this discrepancy. Therefore, we sought to identify genomic loci and enriched biological pathways that differ between patients with and without MST, PTSD, and MDD.Saliva samples were collected from 113 female veterans. Following DNA extraction and processing, DNA methylation levels were measured through the Infinium HumanMethylationEPIC BeadChip array. We used limma and bump hunting methods to generate the differentially methylated positions and differentially methylated regions (DMRs), respectively. Concurrently, we used Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genome to find enriched pathways.A DMR close to the transcription start site of ZFP57 was differentially methylated between subjects with and without PTSD, replicating previous findings and emphasizing the potential role of ZFP57 in PTSD susceptibility. In the pathway analyses, none survived multiple correction, although top GO terms included some potentially relevant to MST, PTSD, and MDD etiology.We conducted one of the first DNA methylation analyses investigating MST along with PTSD and MDD. In addition, we found one DMR near ZFP57 to be associated with PTSD. The replication of this finding indicates further investigation of ZFP57 in PTSD may be warranted.

    View details for DOI 10.1016/j.jad.2024.01.241

    View details for PubMedID 38309478

  • NSAIDs use history: impact on the genome-wide DNA methylation profile and possible mechanisms of action. Clinical and experimental medicine Marra, P. S., Nishizawa, Y., Yamanashi, T., Sullivan, E. J., Comp, K. R., Crutchley, K. J., Wahba, N. E., Shibata, K., Nishiguchi, T., Yamanishi, K., Noiseux, N. O., Karam, M. D., Shinozaki, G. 2023

    Abstract

    NSAIDs inhibit cyclooxygenase, but their role in aging and other diseases is not well understood. Our group previously showed the potential benefit of NSAIDs in decreasing the risk of delirium and mortality. Concurrently, epigenetics signals have also been associated with delirium. Therefore, we sought to find differentially methylated genes and biological pathways related to exposure with NSAIDs by comparing the genome-wide DNA methylation profiles of patients with and without a history of NSAIDs use.Whole blood samples were collected from 171 patients at the University of Iowa Hospital and Clinics from November 2017 to March 2020. History of NSAIDs use was assessed through a word-search function in the subjects' electronic medical records. DNA was extracted from the blood samples, processed with bisulfite conversion, and analyzed using Illumina's EPIC array. The analysis of top differentially methylated CpG sites and subsequent enrichment analysis were conducted using an established pipeline using R statistical software.Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genome (KEGG) showed several biological pathways relevant to NSAIDs' function. The identified GO terms included "arachidonic acid metabolic process," while KEGG results included "linoleic acid metabolism," "cellular senescence," and "circadian rhythm." Nonetheless, none of the top GO and KEGG pathways and the top differentially methylated CpG sites reached statistical significance.Our results suggest a potential role of epigenetics in the mechanisms of the action of NSAIDs. However, the results should be viewed with caution as exploratory and hypothesis-generating given the lack of statistically significant findings.

    View details for DOI 10.1007/s10238-023-01119-9

    View details for PubMedID 37341931

    View details for PubMedCentralID 7486988

  • Bispectral EEG (BSEEG) Algorithm Captures High Mortality Risk Among 1,077 Patients: Its Relationship to Delirium Motor Subtype. The American journal of geriatric psychiatry : official journal of the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry Nishizawa, Y., Yamanashi, T., Saito, T., Marra, P., Crutchley, K. J., Wahba, N. E., Malicoat, J., Shibata, K., Nishiguchi, T., Lee, S., Cho, H. R., Kanazawa, T., Shinozaki, G. 2023

    Abstract

    Delirium is dangerous and a predictor of poor patient outcomes. We have previously reported the utility of the bispectral EEG (BSEEG) with a novel algorithm for the detection of delirium and prediction of patient outcomes including mortality. The present study employed a normalized BSEEG (nBSEEG) score to integrate the previous cohorts to combine their data to investigate the prediction of patient outcomes. We also aimed to test if the BSEEG method can be applicable regardless of age, and independent of delirium motor subtypes.We calculated nBSEEG score from raw BSEEG data in each cohort and classified patients into BSEEG-positive and BSEEG-negative groups. We used log-rank test and Cox proportional hazards models to predict 90-day and 1-year outcomes for the BSEEG-positive and -negative groups in all subjects and motor subgroups.A total of 1,077 subjects, the BSEEG-positive group showed significantly higher 90-day (hazard ratio 1.33 [95% CI 1.16-1.52] and 1-year (hazard ratio 1.22 [95% CI 1.06-1.40] mortality rates than the negative group after adjustment for covariates such as age, sex, CCI, and delirium status. Among patients with different motor subtypes of delirium, the hypoactive group showed significantly higher 90-day (hazard ratio 1.41 [95% CI 1.12-1.76] and 1-year mortality rates (hazard ratio 1.32 [95% CI 1.05-1.67], which remained significant after adjustment for the same covariates.We found that the BSEEG method is capable of capturing patients at high mortality risk.

    View details for DOI 10.1016/j.jagp.2023.03.002

    View details for PubMedID 37003894

  • Genome-wide DNA methylation analysis of post-operative delirium with brain, blood, saliva, and buccal samples from neurosurgery patients. Journal of psychiatric research Wahba, N. E., Nishizawa, Y., Marra, P. S., Yamanashi, T., Crutchley, K. J., Nagao, T., Shibata, K., Nishiguchi, T., Cho, H., Howard, M. A., Kawasaki, H., Hefti, M., Kanazawa, T., Shinozaki, G. 2022; 156: 245-251

    Abstract

    OBJECTIVE: No previous study demonstrates the difference in the genome-wide DNA methylation status of post-operative delirium (POD) using human brain tissue obtained from neurosurgery and multiple peripheral tissues such as blood, saliva, and buccal samples from the same individuals. We aimed to identify epigenetic marks of DNA methylation in the brain and peripheral tissues to elucidate the potential pathophysiological mechanism of POD.METHODS: The four tissue types (brain, blood, saliva, buccal) of DNA samples from up to 40 patients, including 11 POD cases, were analyzed using Illumina EPIC array. DNAm differences between patients with and without POD were examined. We also conducted enrichment analysis based on the top DNAm signals.RESULTS: The most different CpG site between control and POD was found at cg16526133 near the ADAMTS9 gene from the brain tissue(p=8.66E-08). However, there are no CpG sites to reach the genome-wide significant level. The enrichment analysis based on the 1000 top hit CpG site (p<0.05) on the four tissues showed several intriguing pathways. In the brain, there are pathways including "positive regulation of glial cell differentiation". Blood samples showed also pathways related to immune function. Besides, both saliva and the buccal sample showed pathways related to circadian rhythm, although these findings were not FDR significant.CONCLUSION: Enrichment analysis found several intriguing pathways related to potential delirium pathophysiology. Present data may further support the role of epigenetics, especially DNA methylation, in the molecular mechanisms of delirium pathogenesis.

    View details for DOI 10.1016/j.jpsychires.2022.10.023

    View details for PubMedID 36270064