Skip to main content
. 2020 Nov 17;21(22):8670. doi: 10.3390/ijms21228670

Table 1.

Summary of experimental studies examining the effects of dietary interventions on DNA methylation.

First Author and Year of Publication Country Study Design Study Population Age (years) Dietary Intervention DNA Methylation Marker Method Samples
Lee 2013 [37] Mexico RCT Pregnant women at 18–22 weeks of gestation 18–35 Daily supplementation of 400 mg DHA or a placebo LINE-1, IFNγ-1, IFNγ-2, TNF-alpha, GATA3, IL10, IL13, STAT3, FOXP3 Pyrosequencing Cord blood
Geraghty 2018 [38] Ireland RCT The discovery cohort included 60 sex-matched mother-child pairs (30 participants in the intervention arm and 30 participants in the control arm). The replication cohort consisted of different 60 sex-matched mother-child pairs Mean = 32.8 (SD = 4.5) in the intervention group; 33.9 (SD = 4.2) in the control group Eucaloric diet but replacing high glycemic index foods with low glycemic index alternatives Genome-wide methylation profile Illumina Infinium MethylationEPIC BeadChip Array and Sequenom MassARRAY Cord blood
Brøns 2010 [39] Denmark Randomized crossover study 20 low birthweight men and 26 normal birthweight controls Mean = 24.6 (SD = 1) and 24.2 (SD = 0.5) in normal birthweight and low birthweight, respectively Five-day high-fat overfeeding diet and a control diet in a randomized order separated by six to eight weeks PPARGC1A Bisulfite sequencing Skeletal muscle biopsy
Gillberg 2014 [40] Denmark Randomized crossover study 19 low birthweight men and 26 normal birthweight controls 23–27 Five-day high-fat overfeeding diet and a control diet in a randomized order separated by six to eight weeks PPARGC1A Bisulfite sequencing Subcutaneous adipose tissue
Jacobsen 2012 [41] Denmark Randomized crossover study 25 young men with normal birthweight Mean = 24.6 (SD = 1.1) Three-day weight-maintaining diet followed by five-day high-fat overfeeding diet Genomewide methylation profile Infinium HumanMethylation27K bead chip, Sequenom’s MassARRAY EpiTYPER and pyrosequencing Skeletal muscle biopsy
Jacobsen 2014 [42] Denmark Randomized crossover study 17 low birthweight men and 23 normal birthweight controls Mean = 24.6 (SD = 1) and 24.2 (SD = 0.5) in normal birthweight and low birthweight, respectively Five-day high-fat overfeeding diet and a control diet in a randomized order separated by six to eight weeks Genomewide methylation profile Infinium HumanMethylation27K bead chip Skeletal muscle biopsy
Gillberg 2016 [43] Denmark Randomized crossover study The discovery cohort included 16 normal birthweight men and 24 age- and BMI-matched control men with normal birthweight. Two replication cohorts consisted of 142 elderly monozygotic and dizygotic twins and 17 healthy young individuals, respectively NA Three-day weight-maintaining diet followed by 5-day high-fat overfeeding diet Genomewide methylation profile Infinium HumanMethylation450K bead chip Subcutaneous adipose tissue
Hjort 2017 [44] Denmark Non-RCT 21 low birthweight men and 18 normal birthweight controls Mean = 24.6 (SD = 1.2) and 24.8 (SD = 1.4) in normal birthweight and low birthweight, respectively 72 h control diet of precooked meals followed by 36 h of fasting with ad libitum water LEP and ADIPOQ Sequenom MassARRAY Subcutaneous adipose tissue
Milagro 2011 [22] Spain Non-RCT 25 overweight or obese men NA Eight-week energy-restricted diet with 53% of energy from carbohydrates, 17% from proteins and 30% from fats Genomewide methylation profile Infinium HumanMethylation27K bead chip and MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry Blood
Samblas 2018 [45] Spain RCT 47 adults with metabolic syndrome randomized to an energy-restricted dietary intervention NA Seven meals per day with a macronutrient distribution of 40% total caloric value from carbohydrates, 30% from proteins and 30% from lipids Genomewide methylation profile Infinium HumanMethylation27K bead chip and Sequenom’s MassARRAY EpiTYPER Blood
Cordero 2011 [46] Spain Non-RCT 27 obese women 32–50 Eight-week energy-restricted diet with 55% of energy from carbohydrates, 15% from proteins and 30% from fats Leptin and TNF-alpha Methylation-specific PCR Adipose tissue
Campion 2009 [47] Spain Non-RCT 24 obese individuals Mean = 34 (SD = 4) Eight-week energy-restricted diet TNF-alpha Bisulfite sequencing Blood
Nicoletti 2015 [48] Brazil and Spain Non-RCT 45 women randomized to three different intervention groups Mean = 31.7 (SD = 8.6) in the control group;
52.6 (SD = 9.9) in the energy restriction group; 35.5 (SD = 10.1) in the bariatric surgery group
Six-month energy restriction program; hypocaloric dietary treatment followed by bariatric surgery; control group LINE-1, IL-6, and SERPINE-1 Methylation-sensitive high-resolution melting analysis Blood
Delgado-Cruzata 2015 [49] USA Non-RCT 24 overweight and sedentary female breast cancer survivors Mean = 52.2 (SD = 8.7) Six-month weight loss program aimed to increase physical activity to 90 minutes per week, to reduce caloric intake, and to distribute caloric intake as 45% from protein, 30% from carbohydrates, and 25% from fats Global DNA methylation and LINE-1 LUMA, pyrosequencing and MethyLight assay Blood
Garcia-Lacarte 2016 [50] Spain RCT 96 adults with metabolic syndrome randomized to two energy-restricted dietary interventions NA Seven meals per day with a macronutrient distribution of 40% total caloric value from carbohydrates, 30% from proteins and 30% from lipids; the control group followed the American Heart Association guidelines LINE-1 Methylation-sensitive high-resolution melting analysis Blood
Martin-Nunez 2014 [51] Spain Non-RCT 310 obese participants Mean = 53.6 and 54.6 in the control and intervention group, respectively 12-month intervention program based on the promotion of Mediterranean diet and exercise LINE-1 and SCD1 Pyrosequencing Blood
Duggan 2014 [52] USA RCT 298 overweight women randomized to four groups Mean = 57.9 (SD = 4.9) A control group and 12-month interventions aimed to reduce energy intake, to increase physical activity, or both LINE-1 Pyrosequencing Blood
Samblas 2016 [53] Spain Non-RCT 61 overweight or obese women Mean = 42.2 (SD = 11.4) Nine-month program to promote Mediterranean diet, physical activity, nutritional and behavioral education BMAL1, NR1D1, and CLOCK Sequenom’s MassARRAY EpiTyper Blood
Sun 2018 [54] USA RCT 692 individuals randomized to four energy-reduced diets varying in macronutrients Mean = 51.4 Two-year interventions, consisting of two high-fat diets low in carbohydrate and two low-fat diets high in carbohydrate diets Genomewide methylation profile Infinium HumanMethylation450 BeadChip Blood