Several lines of evidence from the last decade support the connection between nutrition and epigenetic mechanisms. In the present study we evaluated the impact of the daily dietary intake of calories and the micronutrients vitamin A, D, B1, B2, B5, C, E, copper, calcium, phosphorus, iron, iodine, selenium, manganese, potassium and sodium on the global DNA methylation profile of blood cells from older individuals.

The study enrolled 126 physically independent elderly of both sexes (60 men and 66 women). For the molecular analysis, DNA samples were extracted from leukocytes and global DNA methylation was evaluated using a high throughput Elisa-based method. Correlations between global DNA methylation and the daily intake of calorie or micronutrients were evaluated using Prism5 GraphPad Software.

A statistically significant correlation was observed between global DNA methylation and the daily caloric value (p=0.019, r=-0.21), and the intake of vitamin A (p=0.03, r=-0.18), Vitamin E (p=0.027, r=-0.20) and copper (p=0.04, r=-0.18). No correlation was observed between global DNA methylation and the daily intake of vitamin D, B1, B2, B5, C, calcium, phosphorus, iron, iodine, selenium, manganese and potassium (p>0.05).

Our data demonstrate that the daily intake of calories or the micronutrients vitamin A, vitamin E and copper can potentially modulate the global DNA methylation profile of leukocytes in older adults and corroborate the notion of nutritional influences on epigenetic mechanisms.