Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Publication Date

5-28-2025

Journal

Communications Biology

Abstract

C-reactive protein (CRP) reflects inflammation status and is linked to poor sleep, metabolic and cardiovascular health. Methylation (MRS) and polygenic risk scores (PRS) reflect long-term systemic inflammation, and genetically-determined CRP, respectively. To refine understanding of inflammation-linked sleep and health outcomes, we construct PRS-CRPs using GWAS summary statistics and a previously-developed MRS-CRP in the Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos. Via survey-weighted linear regression, we estimate associations between blood-, PRS-, and MRS-CRP, with multiple sleep and health outcomes (n = 2217). MRS-CRP and PRS-CRPs are associated with increasing blood-CRP level by 43% and 23% per standard deviation. MRS-CRP is associated with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) traits, long sleep duration, diabetes and hypertension, while PRS-CRPs were not. Blood-CRP level is associated with sleep duration and diabetes. Adjusting for MRS-CRP weakens OSA-diabetes/hypertension associations. Consequently, MRS-CRP is a stronger marker than blood-CRP and PRS-CRP to systemic inflammation associated with poor sleep and related comorbidities.

Keywords

Humans, C-Reactive Protein, Male, Female, Middle Aged, Sleep, Adult, Biomarkers, Risk Factors, Inflammation, DNA Methylation, Aged, Sleep Apnea, Obstructive

DOI

10.1038/s42003-025-08226-1

PMID

40437222

PMCID

PMC12119824

PubMedCentral® Posted Date

5-28-2025

PubMedCentral® Full Text Version

Post-print

Published Open-Access

yes

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