Obesity is a major public health problem worldwide owing to the substantial increase in risk of metabolic diseases. Hypoxia-inducible factors (HIFs) regulate transcriptional responses to hypoxic stress. DNA methylation in the CpG sites of intron 1 of HIF3A is associated with body mass index in the whole blood and adipose tissue. This study investigates the correlation between DNA methylation of HIF3A and parameters of obesity, including thickness of visceral (VAT) and subcutaneous adipose tissues, in the general Japanese population. Participants (220 men and 253 women) who underwent medical examination were enrolled in this cross-sectional study. We used pyrosequencing to quantify DNA methylation (CpG sites of cg16672562, cg22891070, and cg27146050) in HIF3A . DNA methylation of HIF3A was only different in women. Multiple regression analysis showed that DNA methylation level at cg27146050 was associated with thickness of VAT in women. DNA methylation level at cg27146050 also correlated with body mass index and percentage of body fat in women after excluding smokers and non-smokers who quit smoking with the last 5 years. DNA methylation in the CpG site (cg27146050) of HIF3A correlated with parameters of obesity in Japanese women.

中文翻译：

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日本普通人群中HIF3A CpG位点的DNA甲基化程度与肥胖参数之间的关联

由于代谢疾病的风险大大增加，肥胖症是全世界的主要公共卫生问题。缺氧诱导因子（HIFs）调节对缺氧应激的转录反应。HIF3A内含子1的CpG位点的DNA甲基化与全血和脂肪组织中的体重指数相关。这项研究调查了日本普通人群中HIF3A的DNA甲基化与肥胖参数之间的相关性，包括内脏厚度（VAT）和皮下脂肪组织的厚度。参加这项横断面研究的参与者（220名男性和253名女性）接受了医学检查。我们使用焦磷酸测序来定量HIF3A中的DNA甲基化（cg16672562，cg22891070和cg27146050的CpG位点）。HIF3A的DNA甲基化仅在女性中有所不同。多元回归分析显示，cg27146050的DNA甲基化水平与女性的VAT厚度有关。在排除了最近5年戒烟的吸烟者和非吸烟者之后，cg27146050的DNA甲基化水平还与女性的体重指数和体内脂肪百分比相关。HIF3A的CpG位点（cg27146050）中的DNA甲基化与日本女性的肥胖相关。