Racial Disparities in Epigenetic Aging of the Right versus the Left Colon

Here, we present the first study showing race and side-specific differences in the trajectories of epigenetic aging in normal colonic mucosa. The cohort conisted of matched biopsies of left/right colon from healthy individuals (n=129). The majority of individuals were African American (n=89). Methylation arrays (Illumina EPIC) were performed on DNA extracted from fresh frozen biopsies taken at the time of colonoscopy. Our results provide novel insight of epigenetic aging underlying racial disparities in CRC. Side-specific colonic epigenetic aging may be a promising marker to guide interventions to reduce CRC burden. Matched left and right colon biopsies from 129 individuals were analyzed using the Illumina EPIC array.