Incorporating tree nuts into a Western-style diet subtly modifies specific DNA methylation regions within sperm, thereby showing parts of the sperm epigenome can respond to dietary changes.
The study methodology involved a post hoc analysis with a subset of the participants (healthy, non-smoking, and young) from the FERTINUTS 14-week randomized-controlled, parallel trial. The selected participants were from the pool of individuals who completed the entire dietary intervention trial. These individuals were split into two groups: the nut group, which consumed 60 grams per day of mixed nuts for 14 weeks, and the control group, who maintained their regular Western-style diet devoid of nuts.
Investigation of the trial's results revealed no significant changes in overall methylation between the two groups. However, for the nut group, there were 36 genomic regions distinctly showing differential methylation between the beginning and end of the trial with a marked increase in methylation. No such changes were identified in the control group. Analysis also involved examining if nut consumption led to changes in the epigenetic age of cells, but no significant differences were discovered.
