Association of GAL-8 promoter methylation levels with coronary plaque inflammation

Background and aims: Coronary heart disease (CHD) is a condition that carries a high risk of mortality and is associated with aging. CHD is characterized by the chronic inflammatory response of the coronary intima. Recent studies have shown that the methylation level of blood mononuclear cell DNA is closely associated with adverse events in CHD, but the roles and mechanisms of DNA methylation in CHD remain elusive.

Methods and results: In this study, the DNA methylation status within the epigenome of human coronary tissue in the sudden coronary death (SCD) group and control (CON) group of coronary heart disease was analyzed using the Illumina® Infinium Methylation EPIC BeadChip (850 K chip), resulting in the identification of a total of 2553 differentially methylated genes (DMGs). The differentially methylated genes were then subjected to Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment analysis, and significant differential DNA methylation was found. Among the differentially hypomethylated genes were GAL-8, LTF, and RFPL3, while the highly methylated genes were TMEM9B, ANK3, and C6orF48. These genes were mainly enriched in 10 significantly enriched pathways, such as cell adhesion junctions, among which the differentially methylated gene GAL-8 was involved in inflammatory pathway signaling. For functional analysis of GAL-8, we first examined the differences in GAL-8 promoter methylation levels among different subgroups of human coronary tissue in the CON, CHD, and SCD groups using pyrophosphate sequencing. The results revealed reduced GAL-8 promoter methylation levels in the SCD group, while the difference between the CHD and CON groups was not statistically significant (P > 0.05). The reduced GAL-8 promoter methylation level was associated with upregulated GAL-8 expression, which led to increased expression of the inflammatory markers TNF-α, IL-1β, MCP-1, MIP-2, MMP-2, and MMP-9. This enhanced inflammatory response contributed to the accumulation of foam cells, thickening of the intima of human coronary arteries, and increased luminal stenosis, which promoted the occurrence of sudden coronary death. Next, we found that GAL-8 promoter methylation levels in PBMC were consistent with human coronary tissue. The unstable angina group (UAP) had significantly lower GAL-8 promoter methylation levels than stable angina (SAP) and healthy controls (CON) (P < 0.05), and there was a significant correlation between reduced GAL-8 promoter methylation levels and risk factors for coronary heart disease. These findings highlight the association between decreased GAL-8 promoter methylation and the presence of coronary heart disease risk factors. ROC curve analysis suggests that methylation of the GAL 8 promoter region is an independent risk factor for CHD. In conclusion, our study confirmed differential expression of GAL-8, LTF, MUC4D, TMEM9B, MYOM2, and ANK3 genes due to DNA methylation in the SCD group. We also established the consistency of GAL-8 promoter methylation alterations between human coronary tissue and patient peripheral blood monocytes. The decreased methylation level of the GAL-8 promoter may be related to the increased expression of GAL-8 and the coronary risk factors.

Conclusions: Accordingly, we hypothesized that reduced levels of GAL-8 promoter methylation may be an independent risk factor for adverse events in coronary heart disease.