Vitamin D supplementation is associated with slower epigenetic aging

Area of Science:

• Gerontology
• Nutritional Science
• Epigenetics

Background:

• Low vitamin D levels are a concern, particularly for older adults, potentially impacting health and aging.
• DNA methylation age acceleration (DNAmAA) measures biological age deviation from chronological age and may reflect health status.
• Previous research linked vitamin D deficiency to increased DNAmAA.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the effect of vitamin D supplementation on DNAmAA in vitamin D-deficient older adults.
• To assess DNAmAA using five different epigenetic clocks after vitamin D intervention.

Main Methods:

• Utilized longitudinal data from 1,036 participants in the Berlin Aging Study II (BASE-II) and GendAge study.
• Measured DNAmAA using five epigenetic clocks: 7-CpG, Horvath's, Hannum's, PhenoAge, and GrimAge.
• Compared DNAmAA between vitamin D-deficient individuals who supplemented versus those who did not, and with healthy controls.

Main Results:

• Vitamin D supplementation was associated with a significant reduction in 7-CpG DNAmAA (2.6 years) and Horvath DNAmAA (1.3 years) in deficient participants.
• No significant difference in DNAmAA was observed between successfully treated individuals and healthy controls.
• These findings suggest a potential reversal of epigenetic aging markers with vitamin D supplementation.

Conclusions:

• Vitamin D supplementation is linked to reduced DNA methylation age acceleration in older adults with vitamin D deficiency.
• This suggests a potential role for vitamin D in mitigating age-related epigenetic changes.
• Further research is warranted to confirm these findings and explore clinical implications.