The impact of a polyphenol-rich supplement on epigenetic and cellular markers of immune age: a pilot clinical study.
Level 4 - case-series / case-control
Uncontrolled single-arm before-after pilot study (case series equivalent)
PubMed 39628466 · doi:10.3389/fnut.2024.1474597
What was done
Fifty healthy male (40%) and female (60%) participants aged 18–85 years completed a 90-day pilot trial consuming a standardized polyphenol concentrate derived from Tartary buckwheat (*Fagopyrum tataricum*). Peripheral immune cells were analyzed before and after intervention using epigenetic age clocks, cell deconvolution methods, and gene ontology pathway analyses (ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT05234203).
What was found
The authors reported significant intervention-related alterations in multiple epigenetic age clocks, immune markers, and longevity- and immunity-related gene ontology pathways. The abstract provides no numerical data, effect sizes, baseline values, or p-values.
Why it matters
This study provides preliminary pilot observations on the potential for specific dietary polyphenol formulations to influence surrogate cellular and epigenetic markers of immune aging.
Limits
The trial lacked a control or placebo arm, making it impossible to separate supplement effects from normal temporal variation, regression to the mean, or lifestyle confounders. No quantitative data are reported in the abstract. The sample size is small (n = 50) across an extremely wide age distribution (18–85 years), and clinical health outcomes were not assessed.
Cited by
- supports Immune cell rate of aging can be reduced by 47% in 90 days.
- supports A 90-day human trial of 50 subjects taking 1,200 mg/day of Himalayan Tartary buckwheat polyphenols showed up to a 20-fold alteration in immune cell epigenetic patterns regulating the ceramide kinase and COP9 pathways.
- supports A pilot trial analyzing immune cell aging clocks found that Himalayan tartary buckwheat reduced the rate of immune cell aging by 47% over three months.
- supports The study showing a 47% reduction in immune cell aging was an unblinded, non-placebo-controlled pilot trial with a small number of subjects.