Dietary and supplemental intake of vitamins C and E is associated with altered DNA methylation in an epigenome-wide association study meta-analysis

BACKGROUND

Dietary intake of antioxidants such as vitamins C and E protect against oxidative stress, and may also be associated with altered DNA methylation patterns.

METHODS

We meta-analysed epigenome-wide association study (EWAS) results from 11,866 participants across eight population-based cohorts to evaluate the association between self-reported dietary and supplemental intake of vitamins C and E with DNA methylation. EWAS were adjusted for age, sex, BMI, caloric intake, blood cell type proportion, smoking status, alcohol consumption, and technical covariates. Significant results of the meta-analysis were subsequently evaluated in gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) and expression quantitative trait methylation (eQTM) analysis.

RESULTS

In meta-analysis, methylation at 4,656 CpG sites was significantly associated with vitamin C intake at FDR ≤ 0.05. The most significant CpG sites associated with vitamin C (at FDR ≤ 0.01) were enriched for pathways associated with systems development and cell signalling in GSEA, and were associated with downstream expression of genes enriched in the immune response in eQTM analysis. Furthermore, methylation at 160 CpG sites was significantly associated with vitamin E intake at FDR ≤ 0.05, but GSEA and eQTM analysis of the top most significant CpG sites associated with vitamin E did not identify significant enrichment of any biological pathways investigated.

CONCLUSIONS

We identified significant associations of many CpG sites with vitamin C and E intake, and our results suggest that vitamin C intake may be associated with systems development and the immune response.

Metabolomic biomarkers of habitual B vitamin intakes unveil novel differentially methylated positions in the human epigenome

BACKGROUND

B vitamins such as folate (B9), B6, and B12 are key in one carbon metabolism, which generates methyl donors for DNA methylation. Several studies have linked differential methylation to self-reported intakes of folate and B12, but these estimates can be imprecise, while metabolomic biomarkers can offer an objective assessment of dietary intakes. We explored blood metabolomic biomarkers of folate and vitamins B6 and B12, to carry out epigenome-wide analyses across up to three European cohorts. Associations between self-reported habitual daily B vitamin intakes and 756 metabolites (Metabolon Inc.) were assessed in serum samples from 1064 UK participants from the TwinsUK cohort. The identified B vitamin metabolomic biomarkers were then used in epigenome-wide association tests with fasting blood DNA methylation levels at 430,768 sites from the Infinium HumanMethylation450 BeadChip in blood samples from 2182 European participants from the TwinsUK and KORA cohorts. Candidate signals were explored for metabolite associations with gene expression levels in a subset of the TwinsUK sample (n = 297). Metabolomic biomarker epigenetic associations were also compared with epigenetic associations of self-reported habitual B vitamin intakes in samples from 2294 European participants.

RESULTS

Eighteen metabolites were associated with B vitamin intakes after correction for multiple testing (Bonferroni-adj. p < 0.05), of which 7 metabolites were available in both cohorts and tested for epigenome-wide association. Three metabolites - pipecolate (metabolomic biomarker of B6 and folate intakes), pyridoxate (marker of B6 and folate) and docosahexaenoate (DHA, marker of B6) - were associated with 10, 3 and 1 differentially methylated positions (DMPs), respectively. The strongest association was observed between DHA and DMP cg03440556 in the SCD gene (effect = 0.093 ± 0.016, p = 4.07E-09). Pyridoxate, a catabolic product of vitamin B6, was inversely associated with CpG methylation near the SLC1A5 gene promoter region (cg02711608 and cg22304262) and with SLC7A11 (cg06690548), but not with corresponding changes in gene expression levels. The self-reported intake of folate and vitamin B6 had consistent but non-significant associations with the epigenetic signals.

CONCLUSION

Metabolomic biomarkers are a valuable approach to investigate the effects of dietary B vitamin intake on the human epigenome.

Epigenome-wide association study of diet quality in the Women's Health Initiative and TwinsUK cohort

BACKGROUND

Diet quality is a risk factor for chronic disease and mortality. Differential DNA methylation across the epigenome has been associated with chronic disease risk. Whether diet quality is associated with differential methylation is unknown. This study assessed whether diet quality was associated with differential DNA methylation measured across 445 548 loci in the Women's Health Initiative (WHI) and the TwinsUK cohort.

DESIGN

The discovery cohort consisted of 4355 women from the WHI. The replication cohort consisted of 571 mono- and dizygotic twins from the TwinsUK cohort. DNA methylation was measured in whole blood using the Illumina Infinium HumanMethylation450 Beadchip. Diet quality was assessed using the Alternative Healthy Eating Index 2010 (AHEI-2010). A meta-analysis, stratified by study cohort, was performed using generalized linear models that regressed methylation on AHEI-2010, adjusting for cell composition, chip number and location, study characteristics, principal components of genetic relatedness, age, smoking status, race/ethnicity and body mass index (BMI). Statistical significance was defined as a false discovery rate < 0.05. Significant sites were tested for replication in the TwinsUK cohort, with significant replication defined by P < 0.05 and a consistent direction.

RESULTS

Diet quality was significantly associated with differential DNA methylation at 428 cytosine-phosphate-guanine (CpG) sites in the discovery cohort. A total of 24 CpG sites were consistent with replication in the TwinsUK cohort, more than would be expected by chance (P = 2.7x10-4), with one site replicated in both the blood and adipose tissue (cg16379999 located in the body of SEL1L).

CONCLUSIONS

Diet quality was associated with methylation at 24 CpG sites, several of which have been associated with adiposity, inflammation and dysglycaemia. These findings may provide insight into pathways through which diet influences chronic disease.