Blood processing and sample storage have negligible effects on methylation

DNA methylation is a dynamic epigenetic mechanism. Researchers aiming to assess archived DNA samples are expressing concern about the effect of technical factors on methylation, as this may confound results. We reviewed recent reports examining this issue in blood samples and concluded that variation in collection, storage, and processing of blood DNA confers negligible effects on both global methylation and methylation status of specific genes. These results are concordant with studies that have investigated the effect of sample storage and processing on methylation in other tissues, such as tumour, sperm, and placenta samples.