DNA 5-Hydroxymethylation in human adipose tissue differs between subcutaneous and visceral adipose tissue depots

Background: Epigenetic mechanisms such as DNA methylation at the 5-carbon of cytosine (5-mC) were shown to have tissue specific patterns and play a role in post-transcriptional regulation of gene expression. While 5-mC is well studied, the discovery of a stable intermediate during DNA de-methylation (5-hydroxymethylcytosin (5-hmC)) raises questions about its function and distribution. The aim of this study was to test whether 5-hmC exists in human subcutaneous (SAT) and visceral adipose tissue (VAT) and correlates with anthropometric and metabolic parameters. Materials and methods: We used a sample set of 81 sub…