The consumption of nuts affects the DNA methylation of sperm

Reviewed by Emily Henderson, B.Sc.November 9, 2020

Many environmental and lifestyle factors have been implicated in the decline in sperm quality, and diet is one of the most plausible factors identified in recent years. Additionally, several studies have reported a close association between the alteration of specific sperm DNA methylation signatures and sperm quality. To date, however, no randomized clinical trials (RCTs) have been published evaluating the effects of diet on these changes in sperm DNA function.

Researchers from the Human Nutrition Unit of the Universitat Rovira i Virgili, the Pere Virgili and CIBERobn Health Institute (led by Dr. Jordi Salas-Salvadó), and researchers from the University of Utah (led by Dr. the first time the effect of short / medium-term consumption of a nut mixture (almonds, hazelnuts and walnuts) on sperm DNA methylation patterns in healthy individuals who report following a Western-style diet.

The analysis was conducted as part of the FERTINUTS study, an RCT led by Dr. Mónica Bulló; and dr. Albert Salas-Huetos, whose results were published in 2018. Research revealed that including a nut mix for 14 weeks significantly improved sperm count, vitality, motility and morphology.

This new study was conducted in 72 young healthy, non-smoking participants from the FERTINUTS study (nut group, n = 48; control group, n = 24) and was recently published in the scientific journal Andrology. The researchers observed that the methylation of 36 genomic regions was significantly different between baseline and the end of the study only in the nut-eating group, and 97.2% of the regions showed hypermethylation.

According to the researchers, these findings provide the first evidence that adding walnuts to a regular Western-style diet affects sperm DNA methylation in specific regions.

This work demonstrates that there are some sensitive regions of the sperm epigenome that respond to diet and which can cause changes in sperm and its ability to fertilize. “

Albert Salas-Huetos, first author of the article

Albert Salas-Huetos now works at Harvard University in the United States. The researchers also point out that the potential health benefits of the findings warrant further studies to verify the findings found in other populations.