Community Health Sciences Division, School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley.
Osher Center for Integrative Health, University of California, San Francisco.
JAMA Netw Open. 2024 Jul 1;7(7):e2422749. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.22749.
Nutritive compounds play critical roles in DNA replication, maintenance, and repair, and also serve as antioxidant and anti-inflammatory agents. Sufficient dietary intakes support genomic stability and preserve health.
To investigate the associations of dietary patterns, including intakes of essential nutrients and added sugar, and diet quality scores of established and new nutrient indices with epigenetic age in a diverse cohort of Black and White women at midlife.
DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: This cross-sectional study included analyses (2021-2023) of past women participants of the 1987-1997 National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Growth and Health Study (NGHS), which examined cardiovascular health in a community cohort of Black and White females aged between 9 and 19 years. Of these participants who were recruited between 2015 and 2019 from NGHS's California site, 342 females had valid completed diet and epigenetic assessments. The data were analyzed from October 2021 to November 2023.
Diet quality scores of established nutrient indices (Alternate Mediterranean Diet [aMED], Alternate Healthy Eating Index [AHEI]-2010); scores for a novel, a priori-developed Epigenetic Nutrient Index [ENI]; and mean added sugar intake amounts were derived from 3-day food records.
GrimAge2, a second-generation epigenetic clock marker, was calculated from salivary DNA. Hypotheses were formulated after data collection. Healthier diet indicators were hypothesized to be associated with younger epigenetic age.
A total of 342 women composed the analytic sample (mean [SD] age, 39.2 [1.1] years; 171 [50.0%] Black and 171 [50.0%] White participants). In fully adjusted models, aMED (β, -0.41; 95% CI, -0.69 to -0.13), AHEI-2010 (β, -0.05; 95% CI, -0.08 to -0.01), and ENI (β, -0.17; 95% CI, -0.29 to -0.06) scores, and added sugar intake (β, 0.02; 95% CI, 0.01-0.04) were each significantly associated with GrimAge2 in expected directions. In combined analyses, the aforementioned results with GrimAge2 were preserved with the association estimates for aMED and added sugar intake retaining their statistical significance.
In this cross-sectional study, independent associations were observed for both healthy diet and added sugar intake with epigenetic age. To our knowledge, these are among the first findings to demonstrate associations between added sugar intake and epigenetic aging using second-generation epigenetic clocks and one of the first to extend analyses to a diverse population of Black and White women at midlife. Promoting diets aligned with chronic disease prevention recommendations and replete with antioxidant or anti-inflammatory and pro-epigenetic health nutrients while emphasizing low added sugar consumption may support slower cellular aging relative to chronological age, although longitudinal analyses are needed.
营养化合物在 DNA 复制、维持和修复中起着关键作用，它们也是抗氧化剂和抗炎剂。足够的膳食摄入量支持基因组的稳定性并保持健康。
在一个由黑人和白人女性组成的多样化队列中，研究饮食模式（包括必需营养素和添加糖的摄入量）和已建立和新的营养素指数的饮食质量评分与表观遗传年龄之间的关联，这些女性处于中年。
设计、地点和参与者：本横断面研究包括对 1987-1997 年国家心肺血液研究所生长与健康研究（NGHS）中过去女性参与者的分析（2021-2023 年），该研究检查了一个社区黑人和白人女性队列的心血管健康状况，这些女性的年龄在 9 至 19 岁之间。在 2015 年至 2019 年期间从 NGHS 的加利福尼亚站点招募的这些参与者中，有 342 名女性有有效的完整饮食和表观遗传评估。数据于 2021 年 10 月至 2023 年 11 月进行分析。
从 3 天的食物记录中得出已建立的营养素指数（替代地中海饮食[aMED]、替代健康饮食指数[AHEI]-2010）的饮食质量评分；一种新的、预先开发的表观遗传营养素指数[ENI]的评分；以及平均添加糖摄入量。
从唾液 DNA 中计算出第二代表观遗传时钟标志物 GrimAge2。在数据收集后提出了假设。假设健康饮食指标与更年轻的表观遗传年龄相关。
共有 342 名女性组成了分析样本（平均[标准差]年龄，39.2[1.1]岁；171[50.0%]黑人女性和 171[50.0%]白人女性）。在完全调整的模型中，aMED（β，-0.41；95%CI，-0.69 至 -0.13）、AHEI-2010（β，-0.05；95%CI，-0.08 至 -0.01）和 ENI（β，-0.17；95%CI，-0.29 至 -0.06）评分以及添加糖摄入量（β，0.02；95%CI，0.01-0.04）与 GrimAge2 呈显著相关，且方向符合预期。在联合分析中，与 GrimAge2 的上述结果保持一致，并且 aMED 和添加糖摄入量的关联估计值保留了统计学意义。
在这项横断面研究中，健康饮食和添加糖摄入量与表观遗传年龄之间存在独立的关联。据我们所知，这些发现是使用第二代表观遗传时钟首次证明添加糖摄入量与表观遗传衰老之间存在关联的研究之一，也是首次将分析扩展到中年黑人和白人女性的多样化人群的研究之一。提倡与慢性病预防建议一致的饮食，富含抗氧化剂或抗炎剂和促进表观遗传健康的营养素，同时强调低添加糖的摄入，可能会支持相对于实际年龄的细胞衰老速度较慢，尽管需要进行纵向分析。
