LINE-1 hypomethylation is neither present in rectal aberrant crypt foci nor associated with field defect in sporadic colorectal neoplasia.

Abstract

BackgroundAberrant crypt foci (ACF) are considered the first identifiable preneoplastic lesion in colorectal cancer (CRC), and have been proposed as a potential biomarker for CRC risk. Global DNA hypomethylation is an early event in colorectal carcinogenesis, and long interspersed nuclear element-1 (LINE-1) methylation status is a well-known surrogate marker for genome-wide DNA methylation levels. Despite the gradual increase in DNA hypomethylation in the adenoma–carcinoma sequence, LINE-1 methylation in ACF has never been studied. Moreover, recent studies have reported a field defect for LINE-1 hypomethylation, suggesting that LINE-1 methylation status in normal mucosa could be used to stratify CRC risk and tailor preventive strategies. Thus, we assessed LINE-1 status by pyrosequencing in rectal ACF and paired normal colorectal mucosa from individuals with sporadic colon cancer (CC) (n = 35) or adenoma (n = 42), and from healthy controls (n = 70).FindingsCompared with normal mucosa, LINE-1 in ACF were hypermethylated across all groups (P < 0.0001). Furthermore, LINE-1 methylation status in normal colorectal mucosa was independent of the presence of adenoma or CC (P = 0.1072), and did not differ depending on the distance to the adenoma or CC. Interestingly, when we compared the LINE-1 methylation status in normal mucosa from different segments of the colorectum, we found higher hypomethylation in the rectum compared with the descending colon (P < 0.0001).ConclusionsOverall, our results suggest that global hypomethylation is not present in rectal ACF and argues against the existence of LINE-1 methylation field defect in sporadic colon cancer.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/1868-7083-6-24) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.