DNA methylation variants at HIF3A locus, B-vitamin intake, and long-term weight change: Gene-diet interactions in two U.S. Cohorts

The first epigenome-wide association study of BMI identified DNA methylation at an HIF3A locus associated with BMI. We tested the hypothesis that DNA methylation variants are associated with BMI according to intake of B vitamins. In two large cohorts, we found significant interactions between the DNA methylation-associated HIF3A single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) rs3826795 and intake of B vitamins on 10-year changes in BMI. The association between rs3826795 and BMI changes consistently increased across the tertiles of total vitamin B₂ and B₁₂ intake (all P for interaction <0.01). The differences in the BMI changes per increment of minor allele were 20.10 (SE 0.06), 20.01 (SE 0.06), and 0.12 (SE 0.07) within subgroups defined by increasing tertiles of total vitamin B₂ intake and 20.10 (SE 0.06), 20.01 (SE 0.06), and 0.10 (SE 0.07) within subgroups defined by increasing tertiles of total vitamin B₁₂ intake. In two independent cohorts, a DNA methylation variant in HIF3A was associated with BMI changes through interactions with total or supplemental vitamin B₂, vitamin B₁₂, and folate. These findings suggest a potential causal relation between DNA methylation and adiposity.