In this context, abnormal global and gene-specific DNA demethylation (e.g., at CD11a, CD70, and CD40L) and several hypermethylated genes (PRF1, CD11a, FoxP3, CD70, and CDKN2A) in whole blood have been observed from South Africans with SSc (Matatiele et al., 2015). This evidence concerns the gene CD70 and systemic sclerosis.