ArticleCommunications medicine2025
Sex-specific DNA methylation associations with circulating urate levels and BCG-induced urate changes.
Article in Communications medicine, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
1 citing paper in PubMed.
- A review of the evidence for a protective role of uric acid in Parkinson's disease.NPJ Parkinson's disease · 2025Review
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Authors and funding
20 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundUrate concentration and the physiological regulation of urate homeostasis exhibit clear sex differences. DNA methylation has been shown to explain a substantial proportion of serum urate variance, mediate the genetic effect on urate concentration, and co-regulate with cardiometabolic traits. However, whether urate concentration is associated with DNA methylation in a sex-dependent manner is unknown. Additionally, it is worth investigating if urate changes after perturbations, such as vaccination, are associated with DNA methylation in a sex-specific manner.
methodsWe investigated the association between DNA methylation and serum urate concentrations in a Dutch cohort of 325 healthy individuals. Urate concentration and DNA methylation were measured before and after Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccination, used as a perturbation associated with increased gout flares. The association analysis included united, interaction, and sex-stratified analysis.
results215 CpG sites are associated with serum urate in males, while 5 CpG sites are associated with serum urate in females, indicating sex-specific associations. Circulating urate concentrations significantly increase after BCG vaccination, and baseline DNA methylation is associated with differences in urate concentration before and after vaccination in a sex-specific manner. The CpG sites associated with urate concentration in males are enriched in neuro-protection pathways, whereas in females, the urate change-associated CpG sites are related to lipid and glucose metabolism.
conclusionsOur study enhances the understanding of how epigenetic factors contribute to regulating serum urate levels in a sex-specific manner. These insights highlight the importance of personalized and sex-specific approaches in medicine.
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Registered trials
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