Background: Interleukin-6 (IL-6) is implicated in the pathogenesis of coronary heart disease (CHD), and IL-6 expression has associated with reduced DNA methylation of its gene promoter. However, there are no data on IL-6 promoter methylation and the risk of CHD.
Objective: To examine whether IL-6 promoter methylation measured in blood leukocyte DNA is associated with CHD risk.
Methods: A total of 212 cases with CHD and 218 controls were enrolled. Methylation at two CpG sites in IL-6 promoter was measured by bisulfite pyrosequencing, and the mean IL-6 methylation was calculated by averaging the methylation measures of the two CpGs.
Results: Mean methylation level in IL-6 promoter in CHD cases was significantly lower than that in controls (p = 0.023). Logistic regression analysis showed that IL-6 methylation was inversely associated with the risk of CHD. The odds ratios (ORs) of CHD for subjects in the second and first (lowest) tertile of IL-6 methylation were 1.87 (95% CI = 1.10‑3.20) and 2.01 (95% CI = 1.19-3.38) (ptrend = 0.013), respectively, compared to subjects in the third (highest) tertile. The IL-6 hypomethylation-related risk estimates tended to be stronger for acute myocardial infarction (ptrend = 0.006). CpG position-specific analysis showed that hypomethylation of position 1 conferred a more pronounced increase in CHD risk than that of position 2.
Conclusion: These findings suggest that DNA hypomethylation of IL-6 promoter is associated with the increased risk for CHD, especially for acute myocardial infarction. The two distinct CpGs in IL-6 may contribute differently to the development of CHD.