(OR06-06-26) Dietary Intake of Fats and Epigenetic Aging: Results From the Hispanic Community Health Study/ Study of Latinos (HCHS/SOL)

Objectives: Our study examines whether usual dietary fat intake impacts epigenetic age acceleration (EAA), a DNA methylation biomarker of biological aging, using the HCHS/SOL study. We hypothesize that usual intake of saturated fats (SFA) at Visit 1 (V1) will be associated with increased change in EAA (ΔEAA) at Visit 2 (V2), while unsaturated fats (PUFA and MUFA) will be associated with decreased ΔEAA.

Methods: Participants (N = 3,066) completed two 24-hr dietary recalls at V1, blood draw, demographic questionnaires at V1 and V2 approximately 6.0 ± 0.8 years later. Usual intake of fatty acids was estimated using the NCI method. DNA methylation was measured from whole blood at V1 and V2. EAA was calculated using three DNAm-based clocks (PhenoAge, GrimAge, GrimAge2). ΔEAA was defined as the difference in change of biological age and change in chronological age between V2 and V1. Change in pace of aging was estimated as the difference in DunedinPACE between V2 and V1. We used linear regression models with robust standard errors to assess the association between baseline fat intake and ΔEAA, adjusting for sociodemographic and clinical confounders.

Results: Among study participants (64.7% female, mean age 53.7 years), mean usual daily intake was 21.96 g for SFA, 24.89 g for MUFA, and 14.62 g for PUFA. On average, participants were biologically younger than their chronological age across all three clocks. No statistically significant associations were observed for SFA or MUFA. However, higher PUFA intake was significantly associated with decreased ΔGrimAge2, β = −0.04 (−0.06, −0.01). Given that fatty acids are rarely consumed in isolation, fatty acid ratios were also examined. A higher MUFA:PUFA ratio was associated with increased ΔDunedinPACE, β = 0.007 (0.003, 0.011) and increased ΔGrimAge2 (B = 0.30; 95% CI: 0.02, 0.58), while a higher PUFA:SFA ratio was associated with decreased ΔDunedinPACE, β = −0.02 (−0.04, −0.01) and decreased ΔGrimAge2, β = −1.03 (−1.91, −0.15).

Conclusions: Higher PUFA intake and a greater PUFA:SFA ratio were associated with attenuated epigenetic aging, while a higher MUFA:PUFA ratio was associated with accelerated epigenetic aging over approximately six years. These findings suggest that PUFA intake may be associated with decelerated epigenetic aging. Results align with existing dietary guidelines to increase PUFA intake.

Funding Sources: NHLBI T32 HL130025