1 1206 120 COUNTERACTING AGED DNA METHYLATION STATES TO COMBAT AGEING AND AGE-RELATED DISEASES. DNA METHYLATION (DNAM) OVERWRITES INFORMATION ABOUT MULTIPLE EXTRINSIC FACTORS ON THE GENOME. AGE IS ONE OF THESE FACTORS. AGE CAUSES CHARACTERISTIC DNAM CHANGES THAT ARE THOUGHT TO BE NOT ONLY MAJOR DRIVERS OF NORMAL AGEING BUT ALSO PRECURSORS TO DISEASES, CANCER BEING ONE OF THESE. ALTHOUGH THERE IS STILL MUCH TO LEARN ABOUT THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN AGEING, AGE-RELATED DISEASES AND DNAM, WE NOW KNOW HOW TO INTERPRET SOME OF THE EFFECTS CAUSED BY AGE IN THE FORM OF CHANGES IN METHYLATION MARKS AT SPECIFIC LOCI. IN FACT, THESE CHANGES FORM THE BASIS OF THE SO CALLED "EPIGENETIC CLOCKS", WHICH TRANSLATE THE GENOMIC METHYLATION PROFILE INTO AN "EPIGENETIC AGE". EPIGENETIC AGE DOES NOT ONLY ESTIMATE CHRONOLOGICAL AGE BUT CAN ALSO PREDICT THE RISK OF CHRONIC DISEASES AND MORTALITY. EPIGENETIC AGE IS BELIEVED TO BE ONE OF THE MOST ACCURATE METRICS OF BIOLOGICAL AGE. INITIAL EVIDENCE HAS RECENTLY BEEN GATHERED POINTING TO THE POSSIBILITY THAT THE RATE OF EPIGENETIC AGEING CAN BE SLOWED DOWN OR EVEN REVERSED. IN THIS REVIEW, WE DISCUSS SOME OF THE MOST RELEVANT ADVANCES IN THIS FIELD. EXPECTED OUTCOME IS THAT THIS APPROACH CAN PROVIDE INSIGHTS INTO HOW TO PRESERVE HEALTH AND REDUCE THE IMPACT OF AGEING DISEASES IN HUMANS. 2022 2 625 30 BIOLOGICAL AGE AND ENVIRONMENTAL RISK FACTORS FOR DEMENTIA AND STROKE: MOLECULAR MECHANISMS. SINCE THE DEVELOPMENT OF ANTIBIOTICS AND VACCINATION, AS WELL AS MAJOR IMPROVEMENTS IN PUBLIC HYGIENE, THE MAIN RISK FACTORS FOR MORBIDITY AND MORTALITY ARE AGE AND CHRONIC EXPOSURE TO ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS, BOTH OF WHICH CAN INTERACT WITH GENETIC PREDISPOSITIONS. AS THE AVERAGE AGE OF THE POPULATION INCREASES, THE PREVALENCE AND COSTS OF CHRONIC DISEASES, ESPECIALLY NEUROLOGICAL CONDITIONS, ARE RAPIDLY INCREASING. THE DELETERIOUS EFFECTS OF AGE AND ENVIRONMENTAL RISK FACTORS, DEVELOP CHRONICALLY OVER RELATIVELY LONG PERIODS OF TIME, IN CONTRAST TO THE RELATIVELY RAPID DELETERIOUS EFFECTS OF INFECTIOUS DISEASES OR ACCIDENTS. OF PARTICULAR INTEREST IS THE HYPOTHESIS THAT THE DELETERIOUS EFFECTS OF ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS MAY BE MEDIATED BY ACCELERATION OF BIOLOGICAL AGE. THIS HYPOTHESIS IS SUPPORTED BY EVIDENCE THAT DIETARY RESTRICTION, WHICH UNIVERSALLY DELAYS AGE-RELATED DISEASES, ALSO AMELIORATES DELETERIOUS EFFECTS OF ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS. CONVERSELY, BOTH AGE AND ENVIRONMENTAL RISK FACTORS ARE ASSOCIATED WITH THE ACCUMULATION OF SOMATIC MUTATIONS IN MITOTIC CELLS AND EPIGENETIC MODIFICATIONS THAT ARE A MEASURE OF "BIOLOGICAL AGE", A BETTER PREDICTOR OF AGE-RELATED MORBIDITY AND MORTALITY THAN CHRONOLOGICAL AGE. HERE WE REVIEW EVIDENCE THAT ENVIRONMENTAL RISK FACTORS SUCH AS SMOKING AND AIR POLLUTION MAY ALSO DRIVE NEUROLOGICAL CONDITIONS, INCLUDING ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE, BY THE ACCELERATION OF BIOLOGICAL AGE, MEDIATED BY CUMULATIVE AND PERSISTENT EPIGENETIC EFFECTS AS WELL AS SOMATIC MUTATIONS. ELUCIDATION OF SUCH MECHANISMS COULD PLAUSIBLY ALLOW THE DEVELOPMENT OF INTERVENTIONS WHICH DELAY DELETERIOUS EFFECTS OF BOTH AGING AND ENVIRONMENTAL RISK FACTORS. 2022 3 6109 30 THE EPIGENETIC AGING, OBESITY, AND LIFESTYLE. THE PREVALENCE OF OBESITY HAS DRAMATICALLY INCREASED WORLDWIDE OVER THE PAST DECADES. AGING-RELATED CHRONIC CONDITIONS, SUCH AS TYPE 2 DIABETES AND CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE, ARE MORE PREVALENT IN INDIVIDUALS WITH OBESITY, THUS REDUCING THEIR LIFESPAN. EPIGENETIC CLOCKS, THE NEW METRICS OF BIOLOGICAL AGE BASED ON DNA METHYLATION PATTERNS, COULD BE CONSIDERED A REFLECTION OF THE STATE OF ONE'S HEALTH. SEVERAL ENVIRONMENTAL EXPOSURES AND LIFESTYLE FACTORS CAN INDUCE EPIGENETIC AGING ACCELERATIONS, INCLUDING OBESITY, THUS LEADING TO AN INCREASED RISK OF AGE-RELATED DISEASES. THE INSIGHT INTO THE COMPLEX LINK BETWEEN OBESITY AND AGING MIGHT HAVE SIGNIFICANT IMPLICATIONS FOR THE PROMOTION OF HEALTH AND THE MITIGATION OF FUTURE DISEASE RISK. THE PRESENT NARRATIVE REVIEW TAKES INTO ACCOUNT THE INTERACTION BETWEEN EPIGENETIC AGING AND OBESITY, SUGGESTING THAT EPIGENOME MAY BE AN INTRIGUING TARGET FOR AGE-RELATED PHYSIOLOGICAL CHANGES AND THAT ITS MODIFICATION COULD INFLUENCE AGING AND PROLONG A HEALTHY LIFESPAN. THEREFORE, WE HAVE FOCUSED ON DNA METHYLATION AGE AS A CLINICAL BIOMARKER, AS WELL AS ON THE POTENTIAL REVERSAL OF EPIGENETIC AGE USING A PERSONALIZED DIET- AND LIFESTYLE-BASED INTERVENTION. 2022 4 1516 35 DNA METHYLATION AS A BIOMARKER OF AGING IN EPIDEMIOLOGIC STUDIES. CANCER IS LARGELY AN AGING DISEASE. ACCELERATED BIOLOGICAL AGING MAY BE THE STRONGEST PREDICTOR OF CANCER AND OTHER CHRONIC DISEASE RISKS. IN THE ABSENCE OF RELIABLE AND QUANTIFIABLE BIOMARKERS OF AGING TO DATE, IT HAS LONG BEEN OBSERVED THAT TUMORIGENESIS SHARES DISTINCT EPIGENETIC ALTERATIONS WITH THE AGING PROCESS. RECENTLY, EPIGENETIC AGE ESTIMATES HAVE BEEN DEVELOPED BASED ON THE AVAILABILITY OF GENOME-WIDE DNA METHYLATION PROFILES, BY APPLYING IN THE PREDICTION FORMULA THE METHYLATION LEVEL AT A SUBSET OF HIGHLY PREDICTIVE METHYLATION SITES, CALLED EPIGENETIC CLOCK. THESE DNA METHYLATION AGE ESTIMATES HAVE PRODUCED REMARKABLY STRONG CORRELATIONS WITH CHRONOLOGICAL AGE, WITH A SMALL DEVIATION AND HIGH REPRODUCIBILITY ACROSS DIFFERENT AGE GROUPS AND STUDY POPULATIONS. MOREOVER, AN INCREASING NUMBER OF EPIDEMIOLOGIC STUDIES HAVE DEMONSTRATED AN INDEPENDENT ASSOCIATION OF DNA METHYLATION AGE OR THE EXTENT OF ACCELERATION WITH MORTALITY AND VARIOUS AGING-RELATED CONDITIONS, EVEN AFTER ACCOUNTING FOR DIFFERENCES IN CHRONOLOGICAL AGE AND OTHER RISK FACTORS. ALTHOUGH EPIGENETIC PROFILES ARE KNOWN TO BE TISSUE-SPECIFIC, BOTH TARGET TISSUE- AND MULTIPLE TISSUE-DERIVED ESTIMATES APPEAR TO PERFORM WELL TO CAPTURE WHAT IS THOUGHT TO BE THE CUMULATIVE EPIGENETIC DRIFT THAT REPRESENTS A MULTIFACTORIAL DEGENERATIVE PROCESS ACROSS TISSUES AND ORGANISMS. FURTHER REFINEMENT OF THE EPIGENETIC AGE ESTIMATES IS ANTICIPATED OVER TIME TO ACCOMMODATE A BETTER TECHNOLOGICAL COVERAGE OF THE METHYLOME AND A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF THE BIOLOGY UNDERLYING PREDICTIVE REGIONS. EPIDEMIOLOGIC PRINCIPLES WILL REMAIN CRITICAL FOR THE EVALUATION OF RESEARCH FINDINGS INVOLVING, FOR EXAMPLE, DIFFERENT STUDY POPULATIONS, DESIGN, FOLLOW-UP TIME, AND QUALITY OF COVARIATE DATA. OVERALL, THE EPIGENETIC AGE ESTIMATES ARE AN EXCITING DEVELOPMENT WITH USEFUL IMPLICATIONS FOR BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH OF HEALTHY AGING AND DISEASE PREVENTION AND CONTROL. 2018 5 3676 33 INFLAMMATION AND NEUTROPHIL IMMUNOSENESCENCE IN HEALTH AND DISEASE: TARGETED TREATMENTS TO IMPROVE CLINICAL OUTCOMES IN THE ELDERLY. DESPITE INCREASING LONGEVITY, MANY OLD PEOPLE ARE NOT IN GOOD HEALTH. THERE HAS BEEN AN INCREASE IN THE PREVALENCE OF AGE-ASSOCIATED MULTI-MORBIDITY (TWO OR MORE CHRONIC CONDITIONS IN THE SAME PERSON). ALSO, SEVERE INFECTIONS, SUCH AS PNEUMONIA, REMAIN SIGNIFICANT CAUSES OF MORTALITY AND MORBIDITY IN THIS AGING GROUP. MANY CHRONIC HEALTH CONDITIONS SHARE RISK FACTORS SUCH AS INCREASING AGE, SMOKING, A SEDENTARY LIFE STYLE AND BEING PART OF A LOWER SOCIOECONOMIC GROUP. HOWEVER, DESPITE THIS, MULTI-MORBIDITIES OFTEN CO-OCCUR MORE COMMONLY THAN WOULD BE PREDICTED. THIS HAS LED TO THE HYPOTHESIS THAT THEY SHARE COMMON UNDERLYING MECHANISMS. THIS IS AN IMPORTANT CONCEPT, FOR IF IT WERE TRUE, TREATMENTS COULD BE DEVISED WHICH TARGET THESE COMMON PATHWAYS AND IMPROVE A NUMBER OF AGE-ASSOCIATED HEALTH CONDITIONS. MANY CHRONIC ILLNESSES ASSOCIATED WITH MULTI-MORBIDITY AND SEVERE INFECTIONS ARE CHARACTERIZED BY AN ABNORMAL AND SUSTAINED INFLAMMATORY RESPONSE, WITH NEUTROPHILS BEING KEY EFFECTOR CELLS IN THE PATHOLOGICAL PROCESS. STUDIES HAVE DESCRIBED ABERRANT NEUTROPHIL FUNCTIONS ACROSS THESE CONDITIONS, AND SOME HAVE HIGHLIGHTED POTENTIAL MECHANISMS FOR ALTERED CELL BEHAVIOURS WHICH APPEAR SHARED ACROSS DISEASE STATES. IT HAS BEEN SUGGESTED THAT ALTERED FUNCTIONS MAY REPRESENT NEUTROPHIL "SENESCENCE". THIS REVIEW CONSIDERS HOW AND WHY NEUTROPHIL FUNCTIONS CHANGE AS THE CELL AGES, AND HOW AND WHY NEUTROPHIL FUNCTIONS CHANGE AS THE HOST AGES IN HEALTH AND DISEASE AND DISCUSSES WHETHER NEUTROPHIL FUNCTIONS COULD BE TARGETED TO IMPROVE HEALTH OUTCOMES IN OLDER ADULTS. 2018 6 2651 35 EPIGENOMICS AND TRANSCRIPTOMICS IN THE PREDICTION AND DIAGNOSIS OF CHILDHOOD ASTHMA: ARE WE THERE YET? ASTHMA IS THE MOST COMMON NON-COMMUNICABLE CHRONIC DISEASE OF CHILDHOOD. DESPITE ITS HIGH PREVALENCE, TO DATE WE LACK METHODS THAT ARE BOTH EFFICIENT AND ACCURATE IN DIAGNOSING ASTHMA. MOST TRADITIONAL APPROACHES HAVE BEEN BASED ON GARNERING CLINICAL EVIDENCE, SUCH AS RISK FACTORS AND EXPOSURES. GIVEN THE HIGH HERITABILITY OF ASTHMA, MORE RECENT APPROACHES HAVE LOOKED AT GENETIC POLYMORPHISMS AS POTENTIAL "RISK FACTORS." HOWEVER, GENETIC VARIANTS EXPLAIN ONLY A SMALL PROPORTION OF ASTHMA RISK, AND HAVE BEEN LESS THAN OPTIMAL AT PREDICTING RISK FOR INDIVIDUAL SUBJECTS. EPIGENOMIC STUDIES OFFER SIGNIFICANT ADVANTAGES OVER PREVIOUS APPROACHES. EPIGENETIC REGULATION IS HIGHLY TISSUE-SPECIFIC, AND CAN INDUCE BOTH SHORT- AND LONG-TERM CHANGES IN GENE EXPRESSION. SUCH CHANGES CAN START IN UTERO, CAN VARY THROUGHOUT THE LIFE SPAN, AND IN SOME INSTANCES CAN BE PASSED ON FROM ONE GENERATION TO ANOTHER. MOST IMPORTANTLY, THE EPIGENOME CAN BE MODIFIED BY ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS AND EXPOSURES, AND THUS EPIGENETIC AND TRANSCRIPTOMIC PROFILING MAY YIELD THE MOST ACCURATE RISK ESTIMATES FOR A GIVEN PATIENT BY INCORPORATING ENVIRONMENTAL (AND TREATMENT) EFFECTS THROUGHOUT THE LIFESPAN. HERE WE WILL REVIEW THE MOST RECENT ADVANCES IN THE USE OF EPIGENETIC AND TRANSCRIPTOMIC ANALYSIS FOR THE EARLY DIAGNOSIS OF ASTHMA AND ATOPY, AS WELL AS CHALLENGES AND FUTURE DIRECTIONS IN THE FIELD AS IT MOVES FORWARD. WE WILL PARTICULARLY FOCUS ON DNA METHYLATION, THE MOST STUDIED MECHANISM OF EPIGENETIC REGULATION. 2019 7 560 36 BACK TO THE FUTURE: EPIGENETIC CLOCK PLASTICITY TOWARDS HEALTHY AGING. AGING IS THE MOST IMPORTANT RISK FACTOR FOR MAJOR HUMAN LIFESTYLE DISEASES, INCLUDING CANCER, NEUROLOGICAL AND CARDIOMETABOLIC DISORDERS. DUE TO THE COMPLEX INTERPLAY BETWEEN GENETICS, LIFESTYLE AND ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS, SOME INDIVIDUALS SEEM TO AGE FASTER THAN OTHERS, WHEREAS CENTENARIANS SEEM TO HAVE A SLOWER AGING PROCESS. THEREFORE, A BIOCHEMICAL BIOMARKER REFLECTING THE RELATIVE BIOLOGICAL AGE WOULD BE HELPFUL TO PREDICT AN INDIVIDUAL'S HEALTH STATUS AND AGING DISEASE RISK. ALTHOUGH IT IS ALREADY KNOWN FOR YEARS THAT CUMULATIVE EPIGENETIC CHANGES OCCUR UPON AGING, DNA METHYLATION PATTERNS WERE ONLY RECENTLY USED TO CONSTRUCT AN EPIGENETIC CLOCK PREDICTOR FOR BIOLOGICAL AGE, WHICH IS A MEASURE OF HOW WELL YOUR BODY FUNCTIONS COMPARED TO YOUR CHRONOLOGICAL AGE. MOREOVER, THE EPIGENETIC DNA METHYLATION CLOCK SIGNATURE IS INCREASINGLY APPLIED AS A BIOMARKER TO ESTIMATE AGING DISEASE SUSCEPTIBILITY AND MORTALITY RISK. FINALLY, THE EPIGENETIC CLOCK SIGNATURE COULD BE USED AS A LIFESTYLE MANAGEMENT TOOL TO MONITOR HEALTHY AGING, TO EVALUATE PREVENTIVE INTERVENTIONS AGAINST CHRONIC AGING DISORDERS AND TO EXTEND HEALTHY LIFESPAN. DISSECTING THE MECHANISM OF THE EPIGENETIC AGING CLOCK WILL YIELD VALUABLE INSIGHTS INTO THE AGING PROCESS AND HOW IT CAN BE MANIPULATED TO IMPROVE HEALTH SPAN. 2018 8 1958 26 EPIGENETIC AGING AND COLORECTAL CANCER: STATE OF THE ART AND PERSPECTIVES FOR FUTURE RESEARCH. ALTHOUGH TRANSLATIONAL RESEARCH HAS IDENTIFIED A LARGE NUMBER OF POTENTIAL BIOMARKERS INVOLVED IN COLORECTAL CANCER (CRC) CARCINOGENESIS, A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF THE MOLECULAR PATHWAYS ASSOCIATED WITH BIOLOGICAL AGING IN COLORECTAL CELLS AND TISSUES IS NEEDED. HERE, WE AIM TO SUMMARIZE THE STATE OF THE ART ABOUT THE ROLE OF AGE ACCELERATION, DEFINED AS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN EPIGENETIC AGE AND CHRONOLOGICAL AGE, IN THE DEVELOPMENT AND PROGRESSION OF CRC. SOME STUDIES HAVE SHOWN THAT ACCELERATED BIOLOGICAL AGING IS POSITIVELY ASSOCIATED WITH THE RISK OF CANCER AND DEATH IN GENERAL. IN LINE WITH THESE FINDINGS, OTHER STUDIES HAVE SHOWN HOW THE ASSESSMENT OF EPIGENETIC AGE IN PEOPLE AT RISK FOR CRC COULD BE HELPFUL FOR MONITORING THE MOLECULAR RESPONSE TO PREVENTIVE INTERVENTIONS. MOREOVER, IT WOULD BE INTERESTING TO INVESTIGATE WHETHER ABERRANT EPIGENETIC AGING COULD HELP IDENTIFY CRC PATIENTS WITH A HIGH RISK OF RECURRENCE AND A WORST PROGNOSIS, AS WELL AS THOSE WHO RESPOND POORLY TO TREATMENT. YET, THE APPLICATION OF THIS NOVEL CONCEPT IS STILL IN ITS INFANCY, AND FURTHER RESEARCH SHOULD BE ENCOURAGED IN ANTICIPATION OF FUTURE APPLICATIONS IN CLINICAL PRACTICE. 2020 9 6346 26 THE ROLE OF EPIGENETICS IN CARDIOVASCULAR HEALTH AND AGEING: A FOCUS ON PHYSICAL ACTIVITY AND NUTRITION. THE CARDIOVASCULAR SYSTEM IS RESPONSIBLE FOR TRANSPORT OF BLOOD AND NUTRIENTS TO TISSUES, AND IS PIVOTAL TO THE PHYSIOLOGICAL HEALTH AND LONGEVITY. EPIGENETIC MODIFICATION IS A NATURAL, AGE-ASSOCIATED PROCESS RESULTING IN HIGHLY CONTEXTUALISED GENE EXPRESSION WITH CLEAR IMPLICATIONS FOR CELL DIFFERENTIATION AND DISEASE ONSET. BIOLOGICAL/EPIGENETIC AGE IS INDEPENDENT OF CHRONOLOGICAL AGE, CONSTITUTING A HIGHLY REFLECTIVE SNAPSHOT OF AN INDIVIDUAL'S OVERALL HEALTH. ACCELERATED VASCULAR AGEING IS OF MAJOR CONCERN, EFFECTIVELY LOWERING DISEASE THRESHOLD. AGE-RELATED CHRONIC ILLNESS INVOLVES A COMPLEX INTERPLAY BETWEEN MANY BIOLOGICAL PROCESSES AND IS MODULATED BY NON-MODIFIABLE AND MODIFIABLE RISK FACTORS. THESE ALTER THE STATIC GENOME BY A NUMBER OF EPIGENETIC MECHANISMS, WHICH CHANGE GENE EXPRESSION IN AN AGE AND LIFESTYLE DEPENDENT MANNER. THIS 'EPIGENETIC DRIFT' IMPACTS HEALTH AND CONTRIBUTES TO THE ETIOLOGY OF CHRONIC ILLNESS. LIFESTYLE FACTORS MAY CAUSE ACCELERATION OF THIS EPIGENETIC "CLOCK", PRE-DISPOSING INDIVIDUALS TO CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE. NUTRITION AND PHYSICAL ACTIVITY ARE MODIFIABLE LIFESTYLE CHOICES, SYNERGISTICALLY CONTRIBUTING TO CARDIOVASCULAR HEALTH. THEY REPRESENT A POWERFUL POTENTIAL EPIGENETIC INTERVENTION POINT FOR EFFECTIVE CARDIOVASCULAR PROTECTIVE AND MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES. THUS, TOGETHER WITH TRADITIONAL RISK FACTORS, MONITORING THE EPIGENETIC SIGNATURE OF AGEING MAY PROVE BENEFICIAL FOR TAILORING LIFESTYLE TO FIT BIOLOGY - SUPPORTING THE INCREASINGLY POPULAR CONCEPT OF "AGEING WELL". 2018 10 396 32 AN UPDATE ON EPIGENETICS AND CHILDHOOD RESPIRATORY DISEASES. EPIGENETIC MECHANISMS, DEFINED AS CHANGES IN PHENOTYPE OR GENE EXPRESSION CAUSED BY MECHANISMS OTHER THAN CHANGES IN THE UNDERLYING DNA SEQUENCE, HAVE BEEN PROPOSED TO CONSTITUTE A LINK BETWEEN GENETIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS THAT AFFECT COMPLEX DISEASES. RECENT STUDIES SHOW THAT DNA METHYLATION, ONE OF THE KEY EPIGENETIC MECHANISMS, IS ALTERED IN CHILDREN EXPOSED TO AIR POLLUTANTS AND ENVIRONMENTAL TOBACCO SMOKE EARLY IN LIFE. SEVERAL CANDIDATE GENE STUDIES ON EPIGENETICS HAVE BEEN PUBLISHED TO DATE, BUT IT IS ONLY RECENTLY THAT GLOBAL METHYLATION ANALYSES HAVE BEEN PERFORMED FOR RESPIRATORY DISORDERS SUCH AS ASTHMA AND CHRONIC OBSTRUCTIVE PULMONARY DISEASE. HOWEVER, LARGE-SCALE STUDIES WITH ADEQUATE POWER ARE YET TO BE PRESENTED IN CHILDREN, AND IMPLICATIONS FOR CLINICAL USE REMAIN TO BE EVALUATED. IN THIS REVIEW, WE SUMMARIZE THE RECENT ADVANCES IN EPIGENETICS AND RESPIRATORY DISORDERS IN CHILDREN, WITH A MAIN FOCUS ON METHODOLOGICAL CHALLENGES AND ANALYSES RELATED TO PHENOTYPE AND EXPOSURE USING GLOBAL METHYLATION APPROACHES. 2014 11 1360 33 DEVELOPMENTAL ASPECTS OF A LIFE COURSE APPROACH TO HEALTHY AGEING. WE EXAMINE THE MECHANISTIC BASIS AND WIDER IMPLICATIONS OF ADOPTING A DEVELOPMENTAL PERSPECTIVE ON HUMAN AGEING. PREVIOUS MODELS OF AGEING HAVE CONCENTRATED ON ITS GENETIC BASIS, OR THE DETRIMENTAL EFFECTS OF ACCUMULATED DAMAGE, BUT ALSO HAVE RAISED ISSUES ABOUT WHETHER AGEING CAN BE VIEWED AS ADAPTIVE ITSELF, OR IS A CONSEQUENCE OF OTHER ADAPTIVE PROCESSES, FOR EXAMPLE IF MAINTENANCE AND REPAIR PROCESSES IN THE PERIOD UP TO REPRODUCTION ARE TRADED OFF AGAINST LATER DECLINE IN FUNCTION. A LIFE COURSE MODEL PLACES AGEING IN THE CONTEXT OF THE ATTAINMENT OF PEAK CAPACITY FOR A BODY SYSTEM, STARTING IN EARLY DEVELOPMENT WHEN PLASTICITY PERMITS CHANGES IN STRUCTURE AND FUNCTION INDUCED BY A RANGE OF ENVIRONMENTAL STIMULI, FOLLOWED BY A PERIOD OF DECLINE, THE RATE OF WHICH DEPENDS ON THE PEAK ATTAINED AS WELL AS THE LATER LIFE CONDITIONS. SUCH PATH DEPENDENCY IN THE RATE OF AGEING MAY OFFER NEW INSIGHTS INTO ITS MODIFICATION. FOCUSING ON MUSCULOSKELETAL AND CARDIOVASCULAR FUNCTION, WE DISCUSS THIS MODEL AND THE POSSIBLE UNDERLYING MECHANISMS, INCLUDING ENDOTHELIAL FUNCTION, OXIDATIVE STRESS, STEM CELLS AND NUTRITIONAL FACTORS SUCH AS VITAMIN D STATUS. EPIGENETIC CHANGES INDUCED DURING DEVELOPMENTAL PLASTICITY, AND IMMUNE FUNCTION MAY PROVIDE A COMMON MECHANISTIC PROCESS UNDERLYING A LIFE COURSE MODEL OF AGEING. THE LIFE COURSE TRAJECTORY DIFFERS IN HIGH AND LOW RESOURCE SETTINGS. NEW INSIGHTS INTO THE DEVELOPMENTAL COMPONENTS OF THE LIFE COURSE MODEL OF AGEING MAY LEAD TO THE DESIGN OF BIOMARKERS OF LATER CHRONIC DISEASE RISK AND TO NEW INTERVENTIONS TO PROMOTE HEALTHY AGEING, WITH IMPORTANT IMPLICATIONS FOR PUBLIC HEALTH. 2016 12 739 34 CANCER TREATMENT-INDUCED ACCELERATED AGING IN CANCER SURVIVORS: BIOLOGY AND ASSESSMENT. RAPID IMPROVEMENTS IN CANCER SURVIVAL LED TO THE REALIZATION THAT MANY MODALITIES USED TO TREAT OR CONTROL CANCER MAY CAUSE ACCELERATED AGING IN CANCER SURVIVORS. CLINICALLY, "ACCELERATED AGING" PHENOTYPES IN CANCER SURVIVORS INCLUDE SECONDARY CANCERS, FRAILTY, CHRONIC ORGAN DYSFUNCTION, AND COGNITIVE IMPAIRMENT, ALL OF WHICH CAN IMPACT LONG-TERM HEALTH AND QUALITY OF LIFE IN CANCER SURVIVORS. THE TREATMENT-INDUCED ACCELERATED AGING IN CANCER SURVIVORS COULD BE EXPLAINED BY TELOMERE ATTRITION, CELLULAR SENESCENCE, STEM CELL EXHAUSTION, DNA DAMAGE, AND EPIGENETIC ALTERATIONS. SEVERAL AGING CLOCKS AND BIOMARKERS OF AGING HAVE BEEN PROPOSED TO BE POTENTIALLY USEFUL IN ESTIMATING BIOLOGICAL AGE, WHICH CAN PROVIDE SPECIFIC INFORMATION ABOUT HOW OLD AN INDIVIDUAL IS BIOLOGICALLY INDEPENDENT OF CHRONOLOGICAL AGE. MEASURING BIOLOGICAL AGE IN CANCER SURVIVORS MAY BE IMPORTANT FOR TWO REASONS. FIRST, IT CAN BETTER PREDICT THE RISK OF CANCER TREATMENT-RELATED COMORBIDITIES THAN CHRONOLOGICAL AGE. SECOND, BIOLOGICAL AGE MAY PROVIDE ADDITIONAL VALUE IN EVALUATING THE EFFECTS OF TREATMENTS AND PERSONALIZING CANCER THERAPIES TO MAXIMIZE EFFICACY OF TREATMENT. A DEEPER UNDERSTANDING OF TREATMENT-INDUCED ACCELERATED AGING IN INDIVIDUALS WITH CANCER MAY LEAD TO NOVEL STRATEGIES THAT REDUCE THE ACCELERATED AGING AND IMPROVE THE QUALITY OF LIFE IN CANCER SURVIVORS. 2021 13 1546 30 DNA METHYLATION IN NASAL EPITHELIUM: STRENGTHS AND LIMITATIONS OF AN EMERGENT BIOMARKER FOR CHILDHOOD ASTHMA. ASTHMA IS ONE OF THE MOST WIDESPREAD CHRONIC RESPIRATORY CONDITIONS. THIS DISEASE PRIMARILY DEVELOPS IN CHILDHOOD AND IS INFLUENCED BY DIFFERENT FACTORS, MAINLY GENETICS AND ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS. DNA METHYLATION IS AN EPIGENETIC MECHANISM WHICH MAY REPRESENT A BRIDGE BETWEEN THESE TWO FACTORS, PROVIDING A TOOL TO COMPREHEND THE INTERACTION BETWEEN GENETICS AND ENVIRONMENT. MOST EPIDEMIOLOGICAL STUDIES IN THIS FIELD HAVE BEEN CONDUCTED USING BLOOD SAMPLES, ALTHOUGH DNA METHYLATION MARKS IN BLOOD MAY NOT BE RELIABLE FOR DRAWING EXHAUSTIVE CONCLUSIONS ABOUT DNA METHYLATION IN THE AIRWAYS. BECAUSE OF THE ROLE OF NASAL EPITHELIUM IN ASTHMA AND THE TISSUE SPECIFICITY OF DNA METHYLATION, STUDYING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN DNA METHYLATION AND CHILDHOOD ASTHMA MIGHT REVEAL CRUCIAL INFORMATION ABOUT THIS WIDESPREAD RESPIRATORY DISEASE. THE PURPOSE OF THIS REVIEW IS TO DESCRIBE CURRENT FINDINGS IN THIS FIELD OF RESEARCH. WE WILL PRESENT A VIEWPOINT OF SELECTED STUDIES, CONSIDER STRENGTHS AND LIMITATIONS, AND PROPOSE FUTURE RESEARCH IN THIS AREA. 2020 14 6629 19 UNDERSTANDING THE HUMAN AGING PROTEOME USING EPIDEMIOLOGICAL MODELS. HUMAN AGING IS A COMPLEX MULTIFACTORIAL PROCESS ASSOCIATED WITH A DECLINE OF PHYSICAL AND COGNITIVE FUNCTION AND HIGH SUSCEPTIBILITY TO CHRONIC DISEASES, INFLUENCED BY GENETIC, EPIGENETIC, ENVIRONMENTAL, AND DEMOGRAPHIC FACTORS. THIS CHAPTER WILL PROVIDE AN OVERVIEW ON THE USE OF EPIDEMIOLOGICAL MODELS WITH PROTEOMICS DATA AS A METHOD THAT CAN BE USED TO IDENTIFY FACTORS THAT MODULATE THE AGING PROCESS IN HUMANS. THIS IS DEMONSTRATED WITH PROTEOMICS DATA FROM HUMAN PLASMA AND SKELETAL MUSCLE, WHERE THE COMBINATION WITH EPIDEMIOLOGICAL MODELS IDENTIFIED A SET OF MITOCHONDRIAL, SPLICEOSOME, AND SENESCENCE PROTEINS AS WELL AS THE ROLE OF ENERGETIC PATHWAYS SUCH AS GLYCOLYSIS, AND ELECTRON TRANSPORT PATHWAYS THAT REGULATE THE AGING PROCESS. 2022 15 527 32 ASTHMA AND THE MISSING HERITABILITY PROBLEM: NECESSITY FOR MULTIOMICS APPROACHES IN DETERMINING ACCURATE RISK PROFILES. ASTHMA IS RANKED AMONG THE MOST COMMON CHRONIC CONDITIONS AND HAS BECOME A SIGNIFICANT PUBLIC HEALTH ISSUE DUE TO THE RECENT AND RAPID INCREASE IN ITS PREVALENCE. INVESTIGATIONS INTO THE UNDERLYING GENETIC FACTORS PREDICT A HERITABLE COMPONENT FOR ITS INCIDENCE, ESTIMATED BETWEEN 35% AND 90% OF CAUSATION. DESPITE THE APPLICATION OF LARGE-SCALE GENOME-WIDE ASSOCIATION STUDIES (GWAS) AND ADMIXTURE MAPPING APPROACHES, THE PROPORTION OF VARIANTS IDENTIFIED ACCOUNTS FOR LESS THAN 15% OF THE OBSERVED HERITABILITY OF THE DISEASE. THE DISCREPANCY BETWEEN THE PREDICTED HERITABLE COMPONENT OF DISEASE AND THE PROPORTION OF HERITABILITY MAPPED TO THE CURRENTLY IDENTIFIED SUSCEPTIBILITY LOCI HAS BEEN TERMED THE 'MISSING HERITABILITY PROBLEM.' HERE, WE EXAMINE RECENT STUDIES INVOLVING BOTH THE ANALYSIS OF GENETICALLY ENCODED FEATURES THAT CONTRIBUTE TO ASTHMA AND ALSO THE ROLE OF NON-ENCODED HERITABLE CHARACTERISTICS, INCLUDING EPIGENETIC, ENVIRONMENTAL, AND DEVELOPMENTAL ASPECTS OF DISEASE. THE IMPORTANCE OF VERTICAL MATERNAL MICROBIOME TRANSFER AND THE INFLUENCE OF MATERNAL IMMUNE FACTORS ON FETAL CONDITIONING IN THE INHERITANCE OF DISEASE ARE ALSO DISCUSSED. IN ORDER TO HIGHLIGHT THE BROAD ARRAY OF BIOLOGICAL INPUTS THAT CONTRIBUTE TO THE SUM OF HERITABLE RISK FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH ALLERGIC DISEASE INCIDENCE THAT, TOGETHER, CONTRIBUTE TO THE INDUCTION OF A PRO-ATOPIC STATE. CURRENTLY, THERE IS A NEED TO DEVELOP IN-DEPTH MODELS OF ASTHMA RISK FACTORS TO OVERCOME THE LIMITATIONS ENCOUNTERED IN THE INTERPRETATION OF GWAS RESULTS IN ISOLATION, WHICH HAVE RESULTED IN THE MISSING HERITABILITY PROBLEM. HENCE, MULTIOMICS ANALYSES NEED TO BE ESTABLISHED CONSIDERING GENETIC, EPIGENETIC, AND FUNCTIONAL DATA TO CREATE A TRUE SYSTEMS BIOLOGY-BASED APPROACH FOR ANALYZING THE REGULATORY PATHWAYS THAT UNDERLIE THE INHERITANCE OF ASTHMA AND TO DEVELOP ACCURATE RISK PROFILES FOR DISEASE. 2022 16 5183 35 PREMATURE AGING IN CHILDHOOD CANCER SURVIVORS. PROGRESS IN MEDICINE HAS INCREASED THE SURVIVAL TIME OF CHILDREN SUFFERING FROM CANCER; >80% OF PATIENTS SURVIVE FOR AT LEAST 5 YEARS FROM THE END OF TREATMENT. HOWEVER, THERE ARE LATE EFFECTS OF ANTICANCER THERAPY, WHICH ACCOMPANY THIS SUCCESS. TWO-THIRDS OF CHILDHOOD CANCER SURVIVORS (CCSS) HAVE AT LEAST ONE LATE EFFECT (ANY SIDE EFFECTS OR COMPLICATIONS OF ANTICANCER TREATMENT THAT APPEAR MONTHS TO YEARS AFTER THE COMPLETION OF TREATMENT), E.G. ENDOCRINOPATHIES, CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASES OR SUBSEQUENT CANCERS, AND HALF OF THESE LATE EFFECTS ARE SERIOUS OR LIFE THREATENING. THESE LATE CONSEQUENCES OF CHILDHOOD CANCER TREATMENT POSE A SERIOUS HEALTH, SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC PROBLEM. A COMMON MECHANISM FOR DEVELOPING A NUMBER OF LATE EFFECTS IS THE ONSET OF PREMATURE BIOLOGICAL AGING, WHICH IS ASSOCIATED WITH THE EARLY ONSET OF CHRONIC DISEASES AND DEATH. CELLULAR SENESCENCE IN CANCER SURVIVORS IS CAUSED BY THERAPY THAT CAN INDUCE CHROMOSOMAL ABERRATIONS, MUTATIONS, TELOMERE SHORTENING, EPIGENETIC ALTERATIONS AND MITOCHONDRIAL DYSFUNCTIONS. THE MECHANISMS OF ACCELERATED AGING IN CANCER SURVIVORS HAVE NOT YET BEEN FULLY CLARIFIED. THE MEASUREMENT OF BIOLOGICAL AGE IN SURVIVORS CAN HELP IMPROVE THE UNDERSTANDING OF AGING MECHANISMS AND IDENTIFY RISK FACTORS FOR PREMATURE AGING. HOWEVER, TO THE BEST OF OUR KNOWLEDGE, NO SINGLE MARKER FOR THE EVALUATION OF BIOLOGICAL OR FUNCTIONAL AGE IS KNOWN, SO IT IS THEREFORE NECESSARY TO MEASURE THE CONSEQUENCES OF ANTICANCER TREATMENT USING COMPLEX ASSESSMENTS. THE PRESENT REVIEW PRESENTS AN OVERVIEW OF PREMATURE AGING IN CCSS AND OF THE MECHANISMS INVOLVED IN ITS DEVELOPMENT, FOCUSING ON THE ASSOCIATION OF SENESCENCE AND LATE EFFECTS. 2023 17 5263 32 PROMISING BIOMARKERS OF HUMAN AGING: IN SEARCH OF A MULTI-OMICS PANEL TO UNDERSTAND THE AGING PROCESS FROM A MULTIDIMENSIONAL PERSPECTIVE. THE AGING PROCESS HAS BEEN LINKED TO THE OCCURRENCE OF CHRONIC DISEASES AND FUNCTIONAL IMPAIRMENTS, INCLUDING CANCER, SARCOPENIA, FRAILTY, METABOLIC, CARDIOVASCULAR, AND NEURODEGENERATIVE DISEASES. NONETHELESS, AGING IS HIGHLY VARIABLE AND HETEROGENEOUS AND REPRESENTS A CHALLENGE FOR ITS CHARACTERIZATION. IN THIS SENSE, INTRINSIC CAPACITY (IC) STANDS AS A NOVEL PERSPECTIVE BY THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION, WHICH INTEGRATES THE INDIVIDUAL WELLBEING, ENVIRONMENT, AND RISK FACTORS TO UNDERSTAND AGING. HOWEVER, THERE IS A LACK OF QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE ATTRIBUTES TO DEFINE IT OBJECTIVELY. THEREFORE, IN THIS REVIEW WE ATTEMPT TO SUMMARIZE THE MOST RELEVANT AND PROMISING BIOMARKERS DESCRIBED IN CLINICAL STUDIES AT DATE OVER DIFFERENT MOLECULAR LEVELS, INCLUDING EPIGENOMICS, TRANSCRIPTOMICS, PROTEOMICS, METABOLOMICS, AND THE MICROBIOME. TO AID GERONTOLOGISTS, GERIATRICIANS, AND BIOMEDICAL RESEARCHERS TO UNDERSTAND THE AGING PROCESS THROUGH THE IC. AGING BIOMARKERS REFLECT THE PHYSIOLOGICAL STATE OF INDIVIDUALS AND THE UNDERLYING MECHANISMS RELATED TO HOMEOSTATIC CHANGES THROUGHOUT AN INDIVIDUAL LIFESPAN; THEY DEMONSTRATED THAT AGING COULD BE MEASURED INDEPENDENTLY OF TIME (THAT MAY EXPLAIN ITS HETEROGENEITY) AND TO BE HELPFUL TO PREDICT AGE-RELATED SYNDROMES AND MORTALITY. IN SUMMARY, WE HIGHLIGHT THE AREAS OF OPPORTUNITY AND GAPS OF KNOWLEDGE THAT MUST BE ADDRESSED TO FULLY INTEGRATE BIOMEDICAL FINDINGS INTO CLINICALLY USEFUL TOOLS AND INTERVENTIONS. 2020 18 738 24 CANCER SUSCEPTIBILITY: EPIGENETIC MANIFESTATION OF ENVIRONMENTAL EXPOSURES. CANCER IS A DISEASE THAT RESULTS FROM BOTH GENETIC AND EPIGENETIC CHANGES. DISCORDANT PHENOTYPES AND VARYING INCIDENCES OF COMPLEX DISEASES SUCH AS CANCER IN MONOZYGOTIC TWINS AS WELL AS GENETICALLY IDENTICAL LABORATORY ANIMALS HAVE LONG BEEN ATTRIBUTED TO DIFFERENCES IN ENVIRONMENTAL EXPOSURES. ACCUMULATING EVIDENCE INDICATES, HOWEVER, THAT DISPARITIES IN GENE EXPRESSION RESULTING FROM VARIABLE MODIFICATIONS IN DNA METHYLATION AND CHROMATIN STRUCTURE IN RESPONSE TO THE ENVIRONMENT ALSO PLAY A ROLE IN DIFFERENTIAL SUSCEPTIBILITY TO DISEASE. DESPITE A GROWING CONSENSUS ON THE IMPORTANCE OF EPIGENETICS IN THE ETIOLOGY OF CHRONIC HUMAN DISEASES, THE GENES MOST PRONE TO EPIGENETIC DYSREGULATION ARE INCOMPLETELY DEFINED. MOREOVER, NEITHER THE ENVIRONMENTAL AGENTS MOST STRONGLY AFFECTING THE EPIGENOME NOR THE CRITICAL WINDOWS OF VULNERABILITY TO ENVIRONMENTALLY INDUCED EPIGENETIC ALTERATIONS ARE ADEQUATELY CHARACTERIZED. THESE MAJOR DEFICITS IN KNOWLEDGE MARKEDLY IMPAIR OUR ABILITY TO UNDERSTAND FULLY THE ETIOLOGY OF CANCER AND THE IMPORTANCE OF THE EPIGENOME IN DIAGNOSING AND PREVENTING THIS DEVASTATING DISEASE. 2007 19 456 32 APPLYING A LIFE COURSE BIOLOGICAL AGE FRAMEWORK TO IMPROVING THE CARE OF INDIVIDUALS WITH ADULT CANCERS: REVIEW AND RESEARCH RECOMMENDATIONS. IMPORTANCE: THE PRACTICE OF ONCOLOGY WILL INCREASINGLY INVOLVE THE CARE OF A GROWING POPULATION OF INDIVIDUALS WITH MIDLIFE AND LATE-LIFE CANCERS. MANAGING CANCER IN THESE INDIVIDUALS IS COMPLEX, BASED ON DIFFERENCES IN BIOLOGICAL AGE AT DIAGNOSIS. BIOLOGICAL AGE IS A MEASURE OF ACCUMULATED LIFE COURSE DAMAGE TO BIOLOGICAL SYSTEMS, LOSS OF RESERVE, AND VULNERABILITY TO FUNCTIONAL DETERIORATION AND DEATH. BIOLOGICAL AGE IS IMPORTANT BECAUSE IT AFFECTS THE ABILITY TO MANAGE THE RIGORS OF CANCER THERAPY, SURVIVORS' FUNCTION, AND CANCER PROGRESSION. HOWEVER, BIOLOGICAL AGE IS NOT ALWAYS CLINICALLY APPARENT. THIS REVIEW PRESENTS A CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK OF LIFE COURSE BIOLOGICAL AGING, SUMMARIZES CANDIDATE MEASURES, AND DESCRIBES A RESEARCH AGENDA TO FACILITATE CLINICAL TRANSLATION TO ONCOLOGY PRACTICE. OBSERVATIONS: MIDLIFE AND LATE-LIFE CANCERS ARE CHRONIC DISEASES THAT MAY ARISE FROM CUMULATIVE PATTERNS OF BIOLOGICAL AGING OCCURRING OVER THE LIFE COURSE. BEFORE DIAGNOSIS, EACH NEW PATIENT WAS ON A DISTINCT COURSE OF BIOLOGICAL AGING RELATED TO PAST EXPOSURES, LIFE EXPERIENCES, GENETICS, AND NONCANCER CHRONIC DISEASE. CANCER AND ITS TREATMENTS MAY ALSO BE ASSOCIATED WITH BIOLOGICAL AGING. SEVERAL MEASURES OF BIOLOGICAL AGE, INCLUDING P16INK4A, EPIGENETIC AGE, TELOMERE LENGTH, AND INFLAMMATORY AND BODY COMPOSITION MARKERS, HAVE BEEN USED IN ONCOLOGY RESEARCH. ONE OR MORE OF THESE MEASURES MAY BE USEFUL IN CANCER CARE, EITHER ALONE OR IN COMBINATION WITH CLINICAL HISTORY AND GERIATRIC ASSESSMENTS. HOWEVER, FURTHER RESEARCH WILL BE NEEDED BEFORE BIOLOGICAL AGE ASSESSMENT CAN BE RECOMMENDED IN ROUTINE PRACTICE, INCLUDING DETERMINATION OF SITUATIONS IN WHICH KNOWLEDGE ABOUT BIOLOGICAL AGE WOULD CHANGE TREATMENT, ASCERTAINING WHETHER TREATMENT EFFECTS ON BIOLOGICAL AGING ARE SHORT-LIVED OR PERSISTENT, AND TESTING INTERVENTIONS TO MODIFY BIOLOGICAL AGE, DECREASE TREATMENT TOXIC EFFECTS, AND MAINTAIN FUNCTIONAL ABILITIES. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: UNDERSTANDING DIFFERENCES IN BIOLOGICAL AGING COULD ULTIMATELY ALLOW CLINICIANS TO BETTER PERSONALIZE TREATMENT AND SUPPORTIVE CARE, DEVELOP TAILORED SURVIVORSHIP CARE PLANS, AND PRESCRIBE PREVENTIVE OR AMELIORATIVE THERAPIES AND BEHAVIORS INFORMED BY AGING MECHANISMS. 2021 20 6459 24 TIME TO CHANGE FROM A SIMPLE LINEAR MODEL TO A COMPLEX SYSTEMS MODEL. A SIMPLE LINEAR MODEL TO TEST THE HYPOTHESIS BASED ON ONE-ON-ONE RELATIONSHIP HAS BEEN USED TO FIND THE CAUSATIVE FACTORS OF DISEASES. HOWEVER, WE NOW KNOW THAT NOT JUST ONE, BUT MANY FACTORS FROM DIFFERENT SYSTEMS SUCH AS CHEMICAL EXPOSURE, GENES, EPIGENETIC CHANGES, AND PROTEINS ARE INVOLVED IN THE PATHOGENESIS OF CHRONIC DISEASES SUCH AS DIABETES MELLITUS. SO, WITH AVAILABILITY OF MODERN TECHNOLOGIES TO UNDERSTAND THE INTRICATE NATURE OF RELATIONS AMONG COMPLEX SYSTEMS, WE NEED TO MOVE FORWARD TO THE FUTURE BY TAKING COMPLEX SYSTEMS MODEL. 2016