Background and aim: B-vitamins may influence DNA methylation. We studied the effects of vitamin D + Ca + B versus D + Ca on epigenetic age markers and biological age.
Methods and results: Participants (mean ± SD of age = 68.4 ± 10.1 years) were randomized to receive 1200 IE vitamin D3 plus 800 mg Ca-carbonate alone (n = 31) or with 0.5 mg B9, 50 mg B6, and 0.5 mg B12 (n = 32). The CpG methylation of 3 genes (ASPA, ITGA2B, and PDE4C) and the changes in methylation were compared between the groups after 1 year. The changes of ASPA methylation from baseline were higher in the D + Ca + B than in the D + Ca group (1.40 ± 4.02 vs. -0.96 ± 5.12, respectively; p = 0.046, adjusted for age, sex, and baseline methylation). The changes in PDE4C from baseline were slightly higher in the D + Ca + B group (1.95 ± 3.57 vs. 0.22 ± 3.57; adjusted p = 0.062). Methylation of ITGA2B and its changes from baseline were not different between the intervention groups. Sex-adjusted odds ratio of accelerated aging (chronological age < biological age at 1 year) was 5.26 (95% confidence interval 1.51-18.28) in the D + Ca + B compared with the D + Ca group. Accelerated aging in both groups was associated with younger age. In the D + Ca + B group, it was additionally associated with lower baseline homocysteine.
Conclusions: Vitamin D + Ca + B and D + Ca differentially affected epigenetic age markers, although the effect size appeared to be small after 1 year. B-vitamins effect in young subjects with low homocysteine requires further investigation. ClinicalTrials.gov ID: NCT02586181.
Keywords: Aging; DNA-Methylation; Epigenetics; Supplementation; Vitamins.
Copyright © 2018 The Italian Society of Diabetology, the Italian Society for the Study of Atherosclerosis, the Italian Society of Human Nutrition, and the Department of Clinical Medicine and Surgery, Federico II University. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.