Secondhand smoke in combination with ambient air pollution exposure is associated with increasedx CpG methylation and decreased expression of IFN-γ in T effector cells and Foxp3 in T regulatory cells in children

Table 3 Methylation and expression of IFN-γ in T effectors and of Foxp3 in T regulatory cells for all subjects

Parameter	Fresno SHS	Fresno nSHS	Stanford SHS	Stanford nSHS
Parameter	(n = 31)	(n = 31)	(n = 6)	(n = 34)
*IFN-γ* methylation in Teffs (out of 6 CpG sites)	62.10% ± 2.12%	41.29% ± 1.94%	46.67% ± 2.47%	24.85% ± 5.80%
*IFN-γ* expression in Teffs (fold expression vs. *GUS* )	0.75 ± 0.05	1.52 ± 0.11	2.25 ± 0.17	3.53 ± 0.07
*Foxp3* methylation in Tregs (out of 13 CpG sites)	74.60% ± 2.24%	54.44% ± 2.83%	62.0% ± 1.80%	18.41% ± 0.09%
*Foxp3* transcription in Tregs (fold expression vs. *GUS* )	0.75 ± 0.05	3.29 ± 0.35	4.8 ± 0.09	7.2 ± 0.08

IFN-γ, interferon-gamma; Foxp3, forkhead box transcription factor 3; SHS, exposed to secondhand smoke; nSHS, not exposed to secondhand smoke; GUS, beta-glucuronidase; Teffs, T effector cells; Tregs, T regulatory cells. Means are reported ± SEM.

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