Publication Description
We assessed whether epigenetic histone posttranslational modifications are associated with the prolonged beneficial effects (metabolic memory) of intensive versus conventional therapy during the Diabetes Control and Complications Trial (DCCT) on the progression of microvascular outcomes in the long-term Epidemiology of Diabetes Interventions and Complications (EDIC) study. We performed chromatin immunoprecipitation linked to promoter tiling arrays to profile H3 lysine-9 acetylation (H3K9Ac), H3 lysine-4 trimethylation (H3K4Me3), and H3K9Me2 in blood monocytes and lymphocytes obtained from 30 DCCT conventional treatment group subjects (case subjects: mean DCCT HbA1c level >9.1% 76 mmol/mol] and progression of retinopathy or nephropathy by EDIC year 10 of follow-up) versus 30 DCCT intensive treatment subjects (control subjects: mean DCCT HbA1c level 15 genes related to the nuclear factor-κB inflammatory pathway and were enriched in genes related to diabetes complications. These results suggest an association between HbA1c level and H3K9Ac, and a possible epigenetic explanation for metabolic memory in humans.