Short-term diet intervention comprising of olive oil, vitamin D, and omega-3 fatty acids alters the small non-coding RNA (sncRNA) landscape of human sperm
Offspring health outcomes are often linked with epigenetic alterations triggered by maternal nutrition and intrauterine environment. Strong experimental data also link paternal preconception nutrition with pathophysiology in the offspring, but the mechanism(s) routing effects of paternal exposures remain elusive. Animal experimental models have highlighted small non-coding RNAs (sncRNAs) as potential regulators of paternal effects. Here, we characterised the baseline sncRNA landscape of human sperm and the effect of a 6-week dietary intervention on their expression profile. This study involves sncRNAseq profiling, that was performed on a subset (n = 17) of the participants enrolled in the PREPARE trial: 9 from the control group and 8 from the intervention group. 5'tRFs, miRNAs and piRNAs were the most abundant sncRNA subtypes identified; their expression was associated with age, BMI, and sperm quality. Nutritional intervention with olive oil, vitamin D and omega-3 fatty acids altered expression of 3 tRFs, 15 miRNAs and 112 piRNAs, targeting genes involved in fatty acid metabolism and transposable elements in the sperm genome. PREPARE Trial registration number: ISRCTN50956936, Trial registration date: 10/02/2014.
Authors
- Yap Seng Chong (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7232-8473)
- Tessa P. X. Yoo
- Susan Wellstead (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2061-3774)
- Candida Vaz (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6650-7889)
- Karen A. Lillycrop (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7350-5489)
- Keith M. Godfrey (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4643-0618)
- Franchesca D. Houghton (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5167-1694)
- Anindya Dutta (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4319-0073)
- Jason Huan
- Dennis Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0068-1005)
- Peter D. Gluckman (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5711-1655)
- Helena L. Fisk (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9534-3246)
- Pankaj Kumar (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8702-8879)
- Sheena Lewis (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5665-1572)
- Ying Cheong (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7687-4597)
- Philip C. Calder (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6038-710X)
- Pei Fang Tan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1475-8886)
- Neerja Karnani (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5301-409X)
- Alexandra Kermack (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9176-9426)
- Mark A. Burton (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7117-8151)
- Kerry Donnelly
- Nicholas S. Macklon
Institutions
- Agency for Science, Technology and Research (SG)
- Queen's University Belfast (GB)
- University of Auckland (NZ)
- National University of Singapore (SG)
- Princess Anne Hospital (GB)
- University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust (GB)
- University of Alabama at Birmingham (US)
- London Women's Clinic (GB)
- NIHR Southampton Biomedical Research Centre (GB)
- Université Bourgogne Franche-Comté (FR)
- MRC Lifecourse Epidemiology Unit (GB)
- Bioinformatics Institute (SG)
- University of Southampton (GB)
- University of Virginia (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Scientific Reports
- Published
- 2025-03-05
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-83653-4
- Citations
- 6
- Primary Topic
- Cancer-related molecular mechanisms research
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 5.62
Funders
- Wellcome Trust
- National Institute for Health and Care Research
- British Heart Foundation
- Diabetes UK
- European Commission
- Agency for Science, Technology and Research
- National Institute for Health Research Southampton Biomedical Research Centre
- National Institutes of Health
- Directorate for Biological Sciences
- Economic and Social Research Council