Cis-meQTL for cocaine use-associated DNA methylation in an HIV-positive cohort show pleiotropic effects on multiple traits

Abstract Background Cocaine use (CU) is associated with psychiatric and medical diseases. Little is known about the mechanisms of CU-related comorbidities. Findings from preclinical and clinical studies have suggested that CU is associated with aberrant DNA methylation (DNAm) that may be influenced by genetic variants [i.e., methylation quantitative trait loci (meQTLs)]. In this study, we mapped cis-meQTLs for CU-associated DNAm sites (CpGs) in an HIV-positive cohort (Ntotal = 811) and extended the meQTLs to multiple traits. Results We conducted cis-meQTL analysis for 224 candidate CpGs selected for their association with CU in blood. We identified 7,101 significant meQTLs [false discovery rate (FDR)