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512 Predicting outcomes of lifestyle and stress reduction interventions for obesity with DNA methylation and psychological measures

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 April 2025

Zachary Harvanek
Affiliation:
Yale University
Celine Li
Affiliation:
Yale University
Ke Xu
Affiliation:
Yale University
Ania Jastreboff
Affiliation:
Yale University
Rajita Sinha
Affiliation:
Yale University
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Abstract

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Objectives/Goals: Obesity has been classified as a global epidemic and origin of numerous health issues. The central hypothesis of this study is that psychological measures, DNA methylation, and gene transcription will predict obesity-related outcomes after lifestyle interventions, and such interventions may alter DNA methylation profiles. Methods/Study Population: This study consisted of a randomized-controlled trial examining the effects of lifestyle +/- stress reduction interventions in 285 highly stressed parents with obesity, followed for 2 years. Full participants received nutrition and activity counseling, and were randomized to either a stress reduction intervention or a contact control. Those who otherwise qualified for the study but unable to fully participate were included in a no intervention control group. The intervention consisted of 12 weeks of nutrition and activity counseling +/- 2-hour weekly stress reduction interventions using MBSR and CBT-based strategies. DNA methylation was assessed using Illumina EPIC arrays. Results/Anticipated Results: Using linear mixed models (LMMs), this study will first examine the hypothesis that baseline psychological measures and pre-existing methylation sites associated with obesity and glycemic control (e.g., ABCG1, ATP10A, TXNIP, SREBF1, RNF39, and SOCS3) predict changes in BMI, HOMA-IR, and HgbA1C post-intervention and at 1 and 2 year follow-ups. Using sites that demonstrate statistical significance, we will develop a polymethylation risk score predictor of change in BMI. Next, we will examine the hypothesis that interventions which reduce obesity may also lead to improvements in epigenetic aging using LMMs to determine if changes in BMI or HOMA-IR predict changes in epigenetic age acceleration over the course of the study. Discussion/Significance of Impact: This work examines whether psychological factors and/or epigenetic markers may be used in patient stratification at initiation of treatment, enabling improved treatment selection, fewer years of obesity and decreased risk of comorbidities. This proposal also asks whether lifestyle interventions impact the aging process itself.

Type
Precision Medicine/Health
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BYCreative Common License - NCCreative Common License - ND
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is unaltered and is properly cited. The written permission of Cambridge University Press must be obtained for commercial re-use or in order to create a derivative work.
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2025. The Association for Clinical and Translational Science