Epigenetic aging and autosomal methylation remodeling in Anderson-Fabry disease

Anderson-Fabry disease (AFD) is a rare X-linked lysosomal storage disorder characterized by marked clinical heterogeneity and incompletely understood genotype-phenotype correlations. While X-chromosome inactivation has been extensively investigated, the contribution of autosomal epigenetic mechanisms to phenotypic variability remains poorly defined. Here, we performed an exploratory genome-wide DNA methylation analysis in 32 AFD patients (22 females and 10 males; mean age 51.7 years) recruited within a multicenter regional research project in Calabria (Italy). DNA methylation profiling was conducted using the Infinium MethylationEPIC v2.0 array. The analysis integrated two complementary approaches: differential methylation analysis and evaluation of biological aging through multiple epigenetic clocks, including Horvath, Hannum, PhenoAge, Skin & Blood, GrimAge, and DunedinPACE. Exploratory methylome-wide analysis identified a limited set of CpG loci showing nominal evidence of methylation differences between carriers of pathogenic and non-pathogenic variants; however, none remained statistically significant after correction for multiple testing. Annotation of the top-ranking nominal CpG associations highlighted genes involved in biological processes including vascular regulation, intracellular trafficking, cytoskeletal organization, immune signaling, and lipid metabolism. No significant differences between groups were observed for the conventional epigenetic age-acceleration measures examined. In contrast, carriers of pathogenic variants showed significantly higher DunedinPACE values (p = 0.0328), indicating a faster estimated pace of biological aging. This finding suggests that DunedinPACE may capture aspects of the cumulative systemic burden associated with pathogenic GLA variants, although confirmation in larger independent cohorts is required. Overall, this pilot epigenomic study provides preliminary evidence that autosomal epigenetic remodeling and biological aging acceleration may contribute to phenotypic heterogeneity in AFD.