Blood and nasal epigenetics correlate with allergic rhinitis symptom development in the environmental exposure unit

Abstract Background Epigenetic alterations may represent new therapeutic targets and/or biomarkers of allergic rhinitis ( AR ). Our aim was to examine genome‐wide epigenetic changes induced by controlled pollen exposure in the environmental exposure unit ( EEU ). Methods 38 AR sufferers and eight nonallergic controls were exposed to grass pollen for 3 hours on two consecutive days. We interrogated DNA methylation at baseline and 3 hours in peripheral blood mononuclear cells ( PBMC s) using the Infinium Methylation 450K array. We corrected for demographics, cell composition, and multiple testing (Benjamini‐Hochberg) and verified hits using bisulfite PCR pyrosequencing and qPCR . To extend these findings to a clinically relevant tissue, we investigated DNA methylation and gene expression of mucin 4 ( MUC 4 ), in nasal brushings from a separate validation cohort exposed to birch pollen. Results In PBMC s of allergic rhinitis participants, 42 sites showed significant DNA methylation changes of 2% or greater. DNA methylation changes in tryptase gamma 1 ( TPSG 1 ), schlafen 12 ( SLFN 12 ), and MUC 4 in response to exposure were validated by pyrosequencing. SLFN 12 DNA methylation significantly correlated with symptoms ( P < 0.05), and baseline DNA methylation pattern was found to be predictive of symptom severity upon grass allergen exposure ( P = 0.029). Changes in MUC 4 DNA methylation in nasal brushings in the validation cohort correlated with drop in peak nasal inspiratory flow (Spearman's r = 0.314, P = 0.034), and MUC 4 gene expression was significantly increased ( P < 0.0001). Conclusion This study revealed novel and rapid epigenetic changes upon exposure in a controlled allergen challenge facility, and identified baseline epigenetic status as a predictor of symptom severity.