Trial reportAging cell2021
DNA methylation-based biomarkers of aging were slowed down in a two-year diet and physical activity intervention trial: the DAMA study.
Trial report in Aging cell, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 127 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
127 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 182 citations in OpenAlex.
- Exercise and nutrition as epigenetic regulators of gene expression: an exploratory scoping review with bibliometric analysis.Frontiers in nutrition · 2026Pooled it
- An ELOVL2-Based Epigenetic Clock for Forensic Age Prediction: A Systematic Review.International journal of molecular sciences · 2023Pooled it
- Epigenetic aging biomarkers in dietary geroscience: feasibility, participant perceptions, and trial design considerations.GeroScience · 2026Trial
- Trial
- Human clinical trial of plasmapheresis effects on biomarkers of aging (efficacy and safety trial).Scientific reports · 2025Trial
- The CALERIE Genomic Data Resource.Nature aging · 2025Trial
- The effect of polyphenols on DNA methylation-assessed biological age attenuation: the DIRECT PLUS randomized controlled trial.BMC medicine · 2023Trial
- High-Intensity interval training reduces transcriptomic age: A randomized controlled trial.Aging cell · 2023Trial
- The effects of exercise and diet on oxidative stress and telomere length in breast cancer survivors.Breast cancer research and treatment · 2023Trial
- DNA methylation-based biomarkers of aging were slowed down in a two-year diet and physical activity intervention trial: the DAMA study.Aging cell · 2021Trial
- Epigenetic age deceleration reflects exercise-induced cardiorespiratory fitness improvements.GeroScience · 2026Article
- Dietary pattern and epigenetic aging: a longitudinal twin study.GeroScience · 2026Article
- DNA methylation variability provides a complementary epigenetic signature of aging heterogeneity: Findings from the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging and the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Epigenetic ageing is accelerated in drug-resistant epilepsy and dynamically modulated during ketogenic diet therapy.EBioMedicine · 2026Article
- Personalization of incretin therapy: can GLP-1 and GIP receptor polymorphisms influence therapy response?Journal of the Endocrine Society · 2026Review
- Study Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial of Multisensory Early Oral Administration of Human Milk (M-MILK) for Very Preterm Infants: Enhancing Stress Regulation, Neurodevelopment, and Oral Feeding Skills.Biological research for nursing · 2026Article
- Review
- Epigenetic landscapes in human pancreatic islets reveal distinct drivers for adaptation to age and type 2 diabetes.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Diet Quality, Physical Activity, and Epigenetic Aging in the Finnish Working-Age Population.The Journal of nutrition · 2026Article
- Puerarin Reverses UV-Induced Epigenetic Silencing of the Wnt/β-Catenin-KIT Axis to Mitigate Skin Fibroblast Aging.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Article
67 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
12 authors at 3 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Several biomarkers of healthy aging have been proposed in recent years, including the epigenetic clocks, based on DNA methylation (DNAm) measures, which are getting increasingly accurate in predicting the individual biological age. The recently developed "next-generation clock" DNAmGrimAge outperforms "first-generation clocks" in predicting longevity and the onset of many age-related pathological conditions and diseases. Additionally, the total number of stochastic epigenetic mutations (SEMs), also known as the epigenetic mutation load (EML), has been proposed as a complementary DNAm-based biomarker of healthy aging. A fundamental biological property of epigenetic, and in particular DNAm modifications, is the potential reversibility of the effect, raising questions about the possible slowdown of epigenetic aging by modifying one's lifestyle. Here, we investigated whether improved dietary habits and increased physical activity have favorable effects on aging biomarkers in healthy postmenopausal women. The study sample consists of 219 women from the "Diet, Physical Activity, and Mammography" (DAMA) study: a 24-month randomized factorial intervention trial with DNAm measured twice, at baseline and the end of the trial. Women who participated in the dietary intervention had a significant slowing of the DNAmGrimAge clock, whereas increasing physical activity led to a significant reduction of SEMs in crucial cancer-related pathways. Our study provides strong evidence of a causal association between lifestyle modification and slowing down of DNAm aging biomarkers. This randomized trial elucidates the causal relationship between lifestyle and healthy aging-related epigenetic mechanisms.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.