Delgado GE, Moissl-Blanke AP, Krämer BK, Lorkowski S, Siekmeier R, Duerschmied D, Frey N, März W et al.
Genome-wide DNA methylation was assessed in 2,423 LURIC participants using the Illumina HumanMethylationEPIC BeadChip to characterise epigenetic changes associated with tobacco smoking. A discovery-replication analysis identified 24,930 differentially methylated CpG sites, of which 11,907 were previously unreported; some remained altered more than 10 years after cessation. A CpG score derived from mortality-associated sites mediated the relationship between smoking and all-cause mortality, identifying persistent epigenetic alterations as a plausible biological pathway.
Clinical Epigenetics, 4. April 2026 | PMID 41935254