Agha G, Mendelson MM, Ward-Caviness CK, et al. - Across multiple prospective cohorts, researchers assessed blood DNA methylation in relation to incident coronary heart disease (CHD). From the United States and Europe, nine population-based cohorts profiled epigenome-wide blood leukocyte DNA methylation, and prospectively determined CHD events. Participants included 11,461 individuals (mean age: 64 years; 67% women; 35% African American) without CHD at baseline. A mean follow-up of 11.2 years revealed CHD development in 1,895 participants. Findings revealed the association of methylation levels at 52 cytosine-phosphate-guanine sites with incident CHD or myocardial infarction (false discovery rate < 0.05). Overall, a link between methylation of blood-derived DNA and the risk of future CHD was identified across diverse populations. For acquiring further knowledge on the development of CHD, the authors suggested that blood DNA methylation may be used as an informative tool.