Dietary exposures, epigenetics and pubertal tempo.

Area of Science:

• Epigenetics
• Nutritional Science
• Human Development

Background:

• DNA methylation influences gene expression and may regulate pubertal tempo.
• Methyl donor nutrient availability impacts DNA methylation pathways.
• Dietary patterns during pregnancy and adolescence may influence epigenetic regulation of puberty.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate associations between maternal and adolescent dietary patterns and DNA methylation.
• To develop an Epigenetics-Associated Diet Score (EADS) based on nutrient intake.
• To examine the relationship between EADS and pubertal tempo (onset and progression) in adolescents.

Main Methods:

• Utilized least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) to identify diet patterns associated with DNA methylation at LINE-1 repetitive elements.
• Calculated EADS for maternal and adolescent diets.
• Employed interval-censored time to event and ordinal regression models to assess EADS associations with pubertal tempo, adjusting for confounders.

Main Results:

• Maternal EADS was associated with later pubertal onset (increased odds of later menarche).
• Adolescent EADS was associated with pubertal progression, but not onset.
• Higher adolescent EADS correlated with slower pubertal progression in boys (genital and testicular development).

Conclusions:

• Epigenetic-associated diet influences pubertal tempo in a sex- and timing-specific manner.
• Maternal diet impacts pubertal onset, whereas adolescent diet affects pubertal progression.
• Findings highlight the role of nutrition in modulating epigenetic mechanisms regulating adolescent development.