TP53 and type 2 diabetes mellitus: However, a trend toward a positive correlation was detected between HDL cholesterol levels, which can be downregulated by p53 and the methylation of the p53 mediator PEG3. When the patients were divided into T2DM and MetS subgroups and single CpG loci were analysed, differential DNA methylation levels between the groups were observed for 4 out of the 42 loci tested.