A recent study conducted by researchers at the University of British Columbia and collaborators determined if the airways of people living with HIV who have chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) show signs of accelerated aging. The study was published in The American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.
UBC Authors:
- Ana Hernández Cordero, Centre for Heart Lung Innovation, St. Paul’s Hospital and UBC
- Chen Xi Yang, Centre for Heart Lung Innovation, St. Paul’s Hospital and UBC
- Julia Yang, Centre for Heart Lung Innovation, St. Paul’s Hospital and UBC
- Tawimas Shaipanich, Centre for Heart Lung Innovation, St. Paul’s Hospital and UBC
- Julia MacIsaac, Centre for Molecular Medicine and Therapeutics
- David Lin, Centre for Molecular Medicine and Therapeutics
- Michael Kobor, Edwin S.H. Leong UBC Healthy Aging Chair – A UBC President’s Excellence Chair
- Silvia Guillemi, BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS
- Marianne Harris, BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS
- Wan Lam, BC Cancer, UBC
- Stephen Lam, BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS
- Julio Montaner, BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS
- S.F. Paul Man, Centre for Heart Lung Innovation, St. Paul’s Hospital and UBC
- Don Sin, Centre for Heart Lung Innovation, St. Paul’s Hospital and UBC
- Janice Leung, Centre for Heart Lung Innovation, St. Paul’s Hospital and UBC
Summary
Age-related diseases like chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) occur at higher rates in people living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) than in uninfected populations. A recent study, led by researchers at UBC, determined whether accelerated aging can be observed in the airways of people living with HIV who have COPD. They examined DNA methylation, an epigenetic mark on DNA that can alter the activity of genes, in bronchial epithelial cells from people living with HIV with and without COPD, and adults uninfected with HIV. They also assessed epigenetic age, a marker of a person’s biological age. They found evidence for accelerated epigenetic aging in people living with HIV who had COPD, compared to individuals living with HIV who did not have COPD and HIV uninfected participants with and without COPD. HIV infection was also associated with lower levels of DNA methylation. This study shows that DNA methylation age acceleration is observed in the airway epithelium of people living with HIV with COPD, a process that may be responsible for the heightened risk of COPD in this population. Their distinct methylation profile, differing from that observed in patients with COPD alone, suggests a unique pathogenesis to HIV-associated COPD.