Evidence for Type-specific DNA Methylation Patterns in Epilepsy: a Discordant Monozygotic Twin Approach

Epilepsy is a common neurological disorder characterized by recurrent seizures. We performed epigenetic analyses between and within 15 monozygotic (MZ) twin pairs discordant for focal or generalized epilepsy. DNA methylation analysis was performed using Illumina Infinium MethylationEPIC arrays, in blood and buccal samples. Differentially methylated regions between epilepsy types associated with and genes in both tissues. Within MZ discordant twin pairs, differentially methylated regions associated with and genes for generalized epilepsy and and genes for focal epilepsy. This is the first epigenome-wide association study, utilizing the discordant MZ co-twin model, to deepen our understanding of the neurobiology of epilepsy.