Individual and additive effects of vitamin D, omega-3 and exercise on DNA methylation clocks of biological aging in older adults from the DO-HEALTH trial

While observational studies and small pilot trials suggest that vitamin D, omega-3 and exercise may slow biological aging, larger clinical trials testing these treatments individually or in combination are lacking. Here, we report the results of a post hoc analysis among 777 participants of the DO-HEALTH trial on the effect of vitamin D (2,000 IU per day) and/or omega-3 (1 g per day) and/or a home exercise program on four next-generation DNA methylation (DNAm) measures of biological aging (PhenoAge, GrimAge, GrimAge2 and DunedinPACE) over 3 years. Omega-3 alone slowed the DNAm clocks PhenoAge, GrimAge2 and DunedinPACE, and all three treatments had additive benefits on PhenoAge. Overall, from baseline to year 3, standardized effects ranged from 0.16 to 0.32 units (2.9–3.8 months). In summary, our trial indicates a small protective effect of omega-3 treatment on slowing biological aging over 3 years across several clocks, with an additive protective effect of omega-3, vitamin D and exercise based on PhenoAge. Applying epigenetic clocks to samples from the DO-HEALTH trial, Bischoff-Ferrari et al. report a small protective effect of omega-3 supplementation over 3 years on several clocks and an additive protective effect of omega-3, vitamin D and exercise using PhenoAge.