DNA methylation variant, B-vitamins intake and longitudinal change in body mass index

BACKGROUND: Growing evidence has implicated DNA methylation (DNAm) in the regulation of body adiposity; a recent epigenome-wide association study (EWAS) identified a genetic variant determining DNAm at the SREBF1 gene that affected body mass index (BMI). OBJECTIVE: In the present study, we tested interactions between DNAm variant rs752579 and methylation metabolism-related B-vitamins (folate, vitamin B(2), vitamin B(6), and vitamin B(12)) on longitudinal change in BMI in the Women’s Health Initiative Memory Study (WHIMS). DESIGN: A total of 5687 white women aged 65–79 from WHIMS with genotyping data on SNP rs752579 were included in the analysis. B-vitamins intakes were estimated by a self-report semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire. BMI was measured at baseline and 6-year follow-up. RESULT: We found significant interactions between the SREBF1 rs752579 genotype and intake of food source B-vitamins on 6-year change in BMI (p interaction