DNA methylation feature differences by gender in sarcopenia using data from the Korean Genome and Epidemiology Study

Abstract

Abstract Background: Sarcopenia is progressive loss of skeletal muscle mass and strength that can lead to physical impairment, poor quality of life, and death. DNA methylation is being studied as a hallmark with a crucial influence on aging and sarcopenia. However, studies have limitations in that they depended on a small sample size, and did not distinguish between those with sufficient muscle mass and those with insufficient muscle mass among the older people. Therefore, extensive studies on DNA methylation in older people with sarcopenia are needed. Methods: We obtained Korean Genome and Epidemiology Study (KOGES) data conducted between 2009–2010 for analysis. We compared the demographic data of people with high muscle mass index (MMI) and those of people with low MMI. Furthermore, we conducted a DNA methylation study and investigated the effects of epigenetic factors on sarcopenia by identifying differentially methylated regions (DMRs). The pathfindR package of R software was used to perform DMR enrichment analysis to evaluate the relationship between identified DMRs and MMI according to gender. Results: Muscle loss according to age was clearly revealed in men, but in women, the age difference according to MMI was not significant in demographic study. The enrichment analysis of DMRs showed that in the male group, human T-cell leukemia virus 1 infection showed the highest association, followed by allograft rejection, graft-versus-host disease, type 1 diabetes mellitus, and autoimmune thyroid disease. On the other hand, cell cycle showed the highest association, followed by ubiquitin-mediated proteolysis and the MAPK signaling pathway in women group. In men, many DMRs related to autoimmune were found, and in women, the ubiquitin-proteasome system-related DMRs played an important role. Conclusions: The present study results provide differences according to gender in the epigenetic study of sarcopenia and provide an insight in the direction of further sarcopenia research.