The Impact of Lifestyle, Diet and Physical Activity on Epigenetic Changes in the Offspring—A Systematic Review
What this study found
Sixteen studies (5 RCTs, 11 cohorts) with 3,617 participants show that maternal lifestyle, diet and physical activity during pregnancy can be associated with offspring epigenetic changes, primarily DNA methylation and, less commonly, miRNA in placenta and cord blood. Genome-wide methylation changes occurred in cord blood in some interventions; gene-specific methylation changes were observed for genes such as GR, HSD2, IGF-2, MEG3, H19, RXRA and PLAG1. Diets such as low glycemic index, Mediterranean diet, and higher carbohydrate intake were linked to methylation changes at multiple CpG sites.…
- Study & population
- Systematic review of randomized controlled trials and cohort studies (English or Scandinavian languages).
- Intervention
- Extra virgin olive oil; 3 tablespoons per day; during pregnancy; added to regular diet.
- Key limitation
- Heterogeneous exposures and outcomes across studies; small-to-moderate sample sizes and variable methodological quality; inconsistent control for confounders; reliance on self-reported dietary data; diverse tissues analyzed; limited preconception/periconception exposure data; no paternal exposure data; observational…
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Open PDFOriginal abstract
Aims: This systematic review examines the association between maternal lifestyle, diet and physical activity, and epigenetic changes in the offspring. Methods: A literature search was conducted using multiple science databases: PubMed, Embase and Cochrane Library, on 10 March 2021. RCT and Cohort studies in English or Scandinavian languages were included. Exposure variables included diet, lifestyle, meal patterns or physical activity. Studies using dietary supplements as exposure variables were excluded. Outcome variables included were DNA methylation, microRNA or histone changes in placenta, cord blood or offspring. Two independent authors screened, read and extracted data from the included papers. The Cochrane risk-of-bias tool for randomized trials (RoB2) and The Critical Appraisal Skills Program (CASP) Cohort Study Checklist were used to assess risk of bias in the included studies. A qualitative approach was employed due to heterogeneity of exposures and results of the studies. Results: 16 studies and 3617 participants were included in the final analysis. The exposure variables included physical activity, carbohydrate, low glycemic index diet, added sugar, fat, Mediterranean diet and pro-inflammatory diet. The outcome variables identified were differences in DNA methylation and microRNA. Most studies described epigenetic changes in either placenta or cord blood. Genes reported to be methylated were GR, HSD2, IGF-2, PLAG1, MEG-3, H19 and RXRA. However, not all studies found epigenetic changes strong enough to pass multiple testing, and the study quality varied. Conclusion: Despite the variable quality of the included studies, the results in this review suggest that there may be an association between the mother’s lifestyle, diet and level of physical activity during pregnancy and epigenetic changes in the offspring.