Dietary fatty acids and epigenetic aging in US adults: results from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey
摘要
Fatty acids are involved in disease risk and aging processes. In the US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (1999–2002), we tested for associations of total, saturated (SFA), monounsaturated (MUFA), polyunsaturated (PUFA), and subtypes of dietary fatty acids with DNA methylation-based aging biomarkers, adjusting for age, BMI, total energy intake, and sociodemographic and behavioral factors (N = 2260). Higher SFA and MUFA were associated with greater GrimAge2, an aging biomarker of mortality; PUFA was associated with lower Horvath1, Hannum, and PhenoAge (p < 0.05). Omega-3 and the PUFA:SFA ratio were negatively associated with Horvath1, Hannum, Vidal-Bralo, and PhenoAge. Notably, a one-unit increase in PUFA:SFA was associated with 1.05 years lower PhenoAge (95% CI = −1.87, −0.22). We found consistent positive associations for SFA subtypes and negative associations for PUFA subtypes with epigenetic aging; associations of MUFA subtypes varied. Future studies, including randomized controlled trials, are needed to investigate causality and downstream clinical outcomes.