Open Access

REVIEW

DNA methylation as a mediator of epigenetic regulation in the pathogenesis and precision medicine of osteoarthritis: An updated review

by QIAO ZHOU^1,2,3,*, JIAN LIU^2,4,*, LING XIN⁴, YANYAN FANG^2,4, LEI WAN^2,4, DAN HUANG^2,4, JINCHEN GUO¹, JIANTING WEN^2,4

1 Anhui University of Chinese Medicine, Hefei, 230012, China
2 Institute of Rheumatism Prevention and Treatment of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Anhui Academy of Chinese Medicine Sciences, Hefei, 230031, China
3 Department of Rheumatism Immunity, The Second Affiliated Hospital, Anhui University of Chinese Medicine, Hefei, 230061, China
4 Department of Rheumatism Immunity, The First Affiliated Hospital, Anhui University of Chinese Medicine, Hefei, 230031, China

* Corresponding Authors: Qiao Zhou, ; Jian Liu,

(This article belongs to the Special Issue: Biochemical and Epigenetics Changes in Health and Disease)

BIOCELL 2023, 47(4), 761-772. https://doi.org/10.32604/biocell.2023.026698

Received 20 September 2022; Accepted 28 November 2022; Issue published 08 March 2023

Abstract

The pathophysiology of osteoarthritis (OA) is multifactorial, with the primary risk factors being obesity, age, environmental variables, and genetic predisposition. The available evidence suggests that genetic diversity does not adequately account for all clinical characteristics and heterogeneity of OA. Genetics has emerged as a nascent and crucial area of research in OA. The epigenetic module presents a potential link between genetic and environmental risk factors and the susceptibility and pathogenesis of OA. As a critical epigenetic alteration, DNA methylation has been shown to have an important role in the etiology of OA and is a viable biomarker for predicting disease progression and medication response, as shown in this research. This review aims to update knowledge in the field of DNA methylation associated with OA to better identify the essential features of OA subtypes and pathological conditions, hence accelerating individualized treatment and precision medicine.

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