1 1780 110 EDUCATION AND LIFESTYLE FACTORS ARE ASSOCIATED WITH DNA METHYLATION CLOCKS IN OLDER AFRICAN AMERICANS. DNA METHYLATION (DNAM) CLOCKS ARE IMPORTANT BIOMARKERS OF CELLULAR AGING AND ARE ASSOCIATED WITH A VARIETY OF AGE-RELATED CHRONIC DISEASES AND ALL-CAUSE MORTALITY. EXAMINING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN EDUCATION AND LIFESTYLE RISK FACTORS FOR AGE-RELATED DISEASES AND MULTIPLE DNAM CLOCKS CAN INCREASE THE UNDERSTANDING OF HOW RISK FACTORS CONTRIBUTE TO AGING AT THE CELLULAR LEVEL. THIS STUDY EXPLORED THE ASSOCIATION BETWEEN EDUCATION OR LIFESTYLE RISK FACTORS FOR AGE-RELATED DISEASES AND THE ACCELERATION OF FOUR DNAM CLOCKS, INCLUDING INTRINSIC (IEAA) AND EXTRINSIC EPIGENETIC AGE ACCELERATION (EEAA), PHENOAGE ACCELERATION (PHENOAA), AND GRIMAGE ACCELERATION (GRIMAA) IN THE AFRICAN AMERICAN PARTICIPANTS OF THE GENETIC EPIDEMIOLOGY NETWORK OF ARTERIOPATHY. WE PERFORMED BOTH CROSS-SECTIONAL AND LONGITUDINAL ANALYSES. IN CROSS-SECTIONAL ANALYSES, GENDER, EDUCATION, BMI, SMOKING, AND ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION WERE ALL INDEPENDENTLY ASSOCIATED WITH GRIMAA, WHEREAS ONLY SOME OF THEM WERE ASSOCIATED WITH OTHER CLOCKS. THE EFFECT OF SMOKING AND EDUCATION ON GRIMAA VARIED BY GENDER. LONGITUDINAL ANALYSES SUGGEST THAT AGE AND BMI CONTINUED TO INCREASE GRIMAA, AND THAT AGE AND CURRENT SMOKING CONTINUED TO INCREASE PHENOAA AFTER CONTROLLING DNAM CLOCKS AT BASELINE. IN CONCLUSION, EDUCATION AND COMMON LIFESTYLE RISK FACTORS WERE ASSOCIATED WITH MULTIPLE DNAM CLOCKS. HOWEVER, THE ASSOCIATION WITH EACH RISK FACTOR VARIED BY CLOCK, WHICH SUGGESTS THAT DIFFERENT CLOCKS MAY CAPTURE ADVERSE EFFECTS FROM DIFFERENT ENVIRONMENTAL STIMULI.	2019	
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  
2 5395  41 REDUCED EPIGENETIC AGE IN OLDER ADULTS WITH HIGH SENSE OF PURPOSE IN LIFE. PSYCHOSOCIAL RISK FACTORS HAVE BEEN LINKED WITH ACCELERATED EPIGENETIC AGING, BUT LITTLE IS KNOWN ABOUT WHETHER PSYCHOSOCIAL RESILIENCE FACTORS (EG, SENSE OF PURPOSE IN LIFE) MIGHT REDUCE EPIGENETIC AGE ACCELERATION. IN THIS STUDY, WE TESTED IF OLDER ADULTS WHO EXPERIENCE HIGH LEVELS OF PURPOSE MIGHT SHOW REDUCED EPIGENETIC AGE ACCELERATION. WE EVALUATED THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PURPOSE AND EPIGENETIC AGE ACCELERATION AS MEASURED BY 13 DNA METHYLATION (DNAM) "EPIGENETIC CLOCKS" ASSESSED IN 1 572 OLDER ADULTS FROM THE HEALTH AND RETIREMENT STUDY (MEAN AGE 70 YEARS). WE QUANTIFIED THE TOTAL ASSOCIATION BETWEEN PURPOSE AND DNAM AGE ACCELERATION AS WELL AS THE EXTENT TO WHICH THAT TOTAL ASSOCIATION MIGHT BE ATTRIBUTABLE TO DEMOGRAPHIC FACTORS, CHRONIC DISEASE, OTHER PSYCHOSOCIAL VARIABLES (EG, POSITIVE AFFECT), AND HEALTH-RELATED BEHAVIORS (HEAVY DRINKING, SMOKING, PHYSICAL ACTIVITY, AND BODY MASS INDEX [BMI]). PURPOSE IN LIFE WAS ASSOCIATED WITH REDUCED EPIGENETIC AGE ACCELERATION ACROSS 4 "SECOND-GENERATION" DNAM CLOCKS OPTIMIZED FOR PREDICTING HEALTH AND LONGEVITY (FALSE DISCOVERY RATE [FDR] Q < 0.0001: PHENOAGE, GRIMAGE, ZHANG EPIGENETIC MORTALITY INDEX; FDR Q < 0.05: DUNEDINPOAM). THESE ASSOCIATIONS WERE INDEPENDENT OF DEMOGRAPHIC AND PSYCHOSOCIAL FACTORS, BUT SUBSTANTIALLY ATTENUATED AFTER ADJUSTING FOR HEALTH-RELATED BEHAVIORS (DRINKING, SMOKING, PHYSICAL ACTIVITY, AND BMI). PURPOSE SHOWED NO SIGNIFICANT ASSOCIATION WITH 9 "FIRST-GENERATION" DNAM EPIGENETIC CLOCKS TRAINED ON CHRONOLOGICAL AGE. OLDER ADULTS WITH GREATER PURPOSE IN LIFE SHOW "YOUNGER" DNAM EPIGENETIC AGE ACCELERATION. THESE RESULTS MAY BE DUE IN PART TO ASSOCIATED DIFFERENCES IN HEALTH-RELATED BEHAVIORS. RESULTS SUGGEST NEW OPPORTUNITIES TO REDUCE BIOLOGICAL AGE ACCELERATION BY ENHANCING PURPOSE AND ITS BEHAVIORAL SEQUELAE IN LATE ADULTHOOD.	2023	
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         
3 2485  40 EPIGENETIC-BASED AGE ACCELERATION IN A REPRESENTATIVE SAMPLE OF OLDER AMERICANS: ASSOCIATIONS WITH AGING-RELATED MORBIDITY AND MORTALITY. BIOMARKERS DEVELOPED FROM DNA METHYLATION (DNAM) DATA ARE OF GROWING INTEREST AS PREDICTORS OF HEALTH OUTCOMES AND MORTALITY IN OLDER POPULATIONS. HOWEVER, IT IS UNKNOWN HOW EPIGENETIC AGING FITS WITHIN THE CONTEXT OF KNOWN SOCIOECONOMIC AND BEHAVIORAL ASSOCIATIONS WITH AGING-RELATED HEALTH OUTCOMES IN A LARGE, POPULATION-BASED, AND DIVERSE SAMPLE. THIS STUDY USES DATA FROM A REPRESENTATIVE, PANEL STUDY OF US OLDER ADULTS TO EXAMINE THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN DNAM-BASED AGE ACCELERATION MEASURES IN THE PREDICTION OF CROSS-SECTIONAL AND LONGITUDINAL HEALTH OUTCOMES AND MORTALITY. WE EXAMINE WHETHER RECENT IMPROVEMENTS TO THESE SCORES, USING PRINCIPAL COMPONENT (PC)-BASED MEASURES DESIGNED TO REMOVE SOME OF THE TECHNICAL NOISE AND UNRELIABILITY IN MEASUREMENT, IMPROVE THE PREDICTIVE CAPABILITY OF THESE MEASURES. WE ALSO EXAMINE HOW WELL DNAM-BASED MEASURES PERFORM AGAINST WELL-KNOWN PREDICTORS OF HEALTH OUTCOMES SUCH AS DEMOGRAPHICS, SES, AND HEALTH BEHAVIORS. IN OUR SAMPLE, AGE ACCELERATION CALCULATED USING "SECOND AND THIRD GENERATION CLOCKS," PHENOAGE, GRIMAGE, AND DUNEDINPACE, IS CONSISTENTLY A SIGNIFICANT PREDICTOR OF HEALTH OUTCOMES INCLUDING CROSS-SECTIONAL COGNITIVE DYSFUNCTION, FUNCTIONAL LIMITATIONS AND CHRONIC CONDITIONS ASSESSED 2 Y AFTER DNAM MEASUREMENT, AND 4-Y MORTALITY. PC-BASED EPIGENETIC AGE ACCELERATION MEASURES DO NOT SIGNIFICANTLY CHANGE THE RELATIONSHIP OF DNAM-BASED AGE ACCELERATION MEASURES TO HEALTH OUTCOMES OR MORTALITY COMPARED TO EARLIER VERSIONS OF THESE MEASURES. WHILE THE USEFULNESS OF DNAM-BASED AGE ACCELERATION AS A PREDICTOR OF LATER LIFE HEALTH OUTCOMES IS QUITE CLEAR, OTHER FACTORS SUCH AS DEMOGRAPHICS, SES, MENTAL HEALTH, AND HEALTH BEHAVIORS REMAIN EQUALLY, IF NOT MORE ROBUST, PREDICTORS OF LATER LIFE OUTCOMES.	2023	
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           
4 2150  44 EPIGENETIC MEASURES OF AGEING PREDICT THE PREVALENCE AND INCIDENCE OF LEADING CAUSES OF DEATH AND DISEASE BURDEN. BACKGROUND: INDIVIDUALS OF THE SAME CHRONOLOGICAL AGE DISPLAY DIFFERENT RATES OF BIOLOGICAL AGEING. A NUMBER OF MEASURES OF BIOLOGICAL AGE HAVE BEEN PROPOSED WHICH HARNESS AGE-RELATED CHANGES IN DNA METHYLATION PROFILES. THESE MEASURES INCLUDE FIVE 'EPIGENETIC CLOCKS' WHICH PROVIDE AN INDEX OF HOW MUCH AN INDIVIDUAL'S BIOLOGICAL AGE DIFFERS FROM THEIR CHRONOLOGICAL AGE AT THE TIME OF MEASUREMENT. THE FIVE CLOCKS ENCOMPASS METHYLATION-BASED PREDICTORS OF CHRONOLOGICAL AGE (HORVATHAGE, HANNUMAGE), ALL-CAUSE MORTALITY (DNAM PHENOAGE, DNAM GRIMAGE) AND TELOMERE LENGTH (DNAM TELOMERE LENGTH). A SIXTH EPIGENETIC MEASURE OF AGEING DIFFERS FROM THESE CLOCKS IN THAT IT ACTS AS A SPEEDOMETER PROVIDING A SINGLE TIME-POINT MEASUREMENT OF THE PACE OF AN INDIVIDUAL'S BIOLOGICAL AGEING. THIS MEASURE OF AGEING IS TERMED DUNEDINPOAM. IN THIS STUDY, WE TEST THE ASSOCIATION BETWEEN THESE SIX EPIGENETIC MEASURES OF AGEING AND THE PREVALENCE AND INCIDENCE OF THE LEADING CAUSES OF DISEASE BURDEN AND MORTALITY IN HIGH-INCOME COUNTRIES (N </= 9537, GENERATION SCOTLAND: SCOTTISH FAMILY HEALTH STUDY). RESULTS: DNAM GRIMAGE PREDICTED INCIDENCE OF CLINICALLY DIAGNOSED CHRONIC OBSTRUCTIVE PULMONARY DISEASE (COPD), TYPE 2 DIABETES AND ISCHEMIC HEART DISEASE AFTER 13 YEARS OF FOLLOW-UP (HAZARD RATIOS = 2.22, 1.52 AND 1.41, RESPECTIVELY). DUNEDINPOAM PREDICTED THE INCIDENCE OF COPD AND LUNG CANCER (HAZARD RATIOS = 2.02 AND 1.45, RESPECTIVELY). DNAM PHENOAGE PREDICTED INCIDENCE OF TYPE 2 DIABETES (HAZARD RATIO = 1.54). DNAM TELOMERE LENGTH ASSOCIATED WITH THE INCIDENCE OF ISCHEMIC HEART DISEASE (HAZARD RATIO = 0.80). DNAM GRIMAGE ASSOCIATED WITH ALL-CAUSE MORTALITY, THE PREVALENCE OF COPD AND SPIROMETRY MEASURES AT THE STUDY BASELINE. THESE ASSOCIATIONS WERE PRESENT AFTER ADJUSTING FOR POSSIBLE CONFOUNDING RISK FACTORS INCLUDING ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION, BODY MASS INDEX, DEPRIVATION, EDUCATION AND TOBACCO SMOKING AND SURPASSED STRINGENT BONFERRONI-CORRECTED SIGNIFICANCE THRESHOLDS. CONCLUSIONS: OUR DATA SUGGEST THAT EPIGENETIC MEASURES OF AGEING MAY HAVE UTILITY IN CLINICAL SETTINGS TO COMPLEMENT GOLD-STANDARD METHODS FOR DISEASE ASSESSMENT AND MANAGEMENT.	2020	
                                                                                      
5 2734  40 EXPLORING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN DNA METHYLATION AGE MEASURES AND PSYCHONEUROLOGICAL SYMPTOMS IN WOMEN WITH EARLY-STAGE BREAST CANCER. PURPOSE: THE EPIGENETIC CLOCK HAS BEEN ACKNOWLEDGED AS AN INDICATOR FOR MOLECULAR AGING, BUT FEW STUDIES HAVE EXAMINED POSSIBLE ASSOCIATIONS OF DNA METHYLATION (DNAM) AGE OR AGE ACCELERATION (AA) WITH SYMPTOM BURDEN IN INDIVIDUALS WHO ARE TREATED FOR CANCER. THIS STUDY EXPLORED THE ASSOCIATION OF DNAM AGE OR AA WITH PSYCHONEUROLOGICAL (PN) SYMPTOMS, INCLUDING COGNITIVE IMPAIRMENT, FATIGUE, SLEEP DISTURBANCES, PAIN, AND DEPRESSIVE SYMPTOMS, IN BREAST CANCER SURVIVORS OVER A 2-YEAR PERIOD. METHODS: WE MEASURED PN SYMPTOMS USING RELIABLE INSTRUMENTS AND DNAM LEVELS BY INFINIUM HUMANMETHYLATION450K BEADCHIP (N = 72). DNAM AGE WAS CALCULATED BY THE HORVATH, GRIM, AND HANNUM-BASED INTRINSIC AND EXTRINSIC AGE ESTIMATIONS. AA WAS DEFINED BY THE RESIDUAL REGRESSING ESTIMATED EPIGENETIC AGE ON CHRONOLOGICAL AGE. MIXED REGRESSION MODELS WERE FITTED FOR AA AND CHANGES IN AA TO STUDY THE ASSOCIATION OVER TIME. SEPARATE LINEAR REGRESSION MODELS AND A MIXED-EFFECTS MODEL WERE FITTED FOR AA AT EACH TIME POINT. RESULTS: HORVATH-AA, GRIM-AA, AND EXTRINSIC EPIGENETIC AA WERE SIGNIFICANTLY CHANGED OVER TIME, WHILE INTRINSIC EPIGENETIC AA DID NOT EXHIBIT ANY TEMPORAL CHANGES. INCREASED AA WAS ASSOCIATED WITH GREATER ANXIETY AND FATIGUE, AS WELL AS WORSE COGNITIVE MEMORY, ADJUSTING FOR RACE, BMI, INCOME, CHEMOTHERAPY, RADIATION THERAPY, AND CHRONOLOGICAL AGE. INCREASED DNAM AGE WAS ASSOCIATED WITH GREATER ANXIETY OVER 2 YEARS. CONCLUSION: OUR FINDINGS SUGGEST DNAM AGE AND AA MAY BE ASSOCIATED WITH PN SYMPTOMS OVER THE COURSE OF CANCER TREATMENT AND SURVIVORSHIP. SOME PN SYMPTOMS MAY BE AMENABLE TO PREVENTIVE INTERVENTIONS TARGETED TO EPIGENETIC CLOCKS THAT INFLUENCE AGING-ASSOCIATED PROCESSES.	2022	
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       
6  173  35 ACCELERATED AGING IN BIPOLAR DISORDERS: AN EXPLORATORY STUDY OF SIX EPIGENETIC CLOCKS. BIPOLAR DISORDER (BD) IS A CHRONIC AND SEVERE PSYCHIATRIC DISORDER ASSOCIATED WITH SIGNIFICANT MEDICAL MORBIDITY AND REDUCED LIFE EXPECTANCY. IN THIS STUDY, WE ASSESSED ACCELERATED EPIGENETIC AGING IN INDIVIDUALS WITH BD USING VARIOUS DNA METHYLATION (DNAM)-BASED MARKERS. FOR THIS PURPOSE, WE USED FIVE EPIGENETIC CLOCKS (HORVATH, HANNUM, EN, PHENOAGE, AND GRIMAGE) AND A DNAM-BASED TELOMERE LENGTH CLOCK (DNAMTL). DNAM PROFILES WERE OBTAINED USING INFINIUM METHYLATIONEPIC ARRAYS FROM WHOLE-BLOOD SAMPLES OF 184 INDIVIDUALS WITH BD. WE ALSO ESTIMATED BLOOD CELL COUNTS BASED ON DNAM LEVELS FOR ADJUSTMENT. SIGNIFICANT CORRELATIONS BETWEEN CHRONOLOGICAL AGE AND EACH EPIGENETIC AGE ESTIMATED USING THE SIX DIFFERENT CLOCKS WERE OBSERVED. FOLLOWING ADJUSTMENT FOR BLOOD CELL COUNTS, WE FOUND THAT THE SIX EPIGENETIC AGEACCELS (AGE ACCELERATIONS) WERE SIGNIFICANTLY ASSOCIATED WITH THE BODY MASS INDEX. GRIMAGE AGEACCEL WAS SIGNIFICANTLY ASSOCIATED WITH MALE SEX, SMOKING STATUS AND CHILDHOOD MALTREATMENT. DNAMTL AGEACCEL WAS SIGNIFICANTLY ASSOCIATED WITH SMOKING STATUS. OVERALL, THIS STUDY SHOWED THAT DISTINCT EPIGENETIC CLOCKS ARE SENSITIVE TO DIFFERENT ASPECTS OF AGING PROCESS IN BD. FURTHER INVESTIGATIONS WITH COMPREHENSIVE EPIGENETIC CLOCK ANALYSES AND LARGE SAMPLES ARE REQUIRED TO CONFIRM OUR FINDINGS OF POTENTIAL DETERMINANTS OF AN ACCELERATED EPIGENETIC AGING IN BD.	2023	
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         
7 1957  35 EPIGENETIC AGE PREDICTORS IN COMMUNITY-DWELLING ADULTS WITH HIGH IMPACT KNEE PAIN. GERONTOLOGICAL RESEARCH REVEALS CONSIDERABLE INTERINDIVIDUAL VARIABILITY IN AGING PHENOTYPES, AND EMERGING EVIDENCE SUGGESTS THAT HIGH IMPACT CHRONIC PAIN MAY BE ASSOCIATED WITH VARIOUS ACCELERATED BIOLOGICAL AGING PROCESSES. IN PARTICULAR, EPIGENETIC AGING IS A ROBUST PREDICTOR OF HEALTH-SPAN AND DISABILITY COMPARED TO CHRONOLOGICAL AGE ALONE. THE CURRENT STUDY AIMED TO DETERMINE WHETHER SEVERAL EPIGENETIC AGING BIOMARKERS WERE ASSOCIATED WITH HIGH IMPACT CHRONIC PAIN IN MIDDLE TO OLDER AGE ADULTS (44-78 YEARS OLD). PARTICIPANTS (N = 213) UNDERWENT A BLOOD DRAW, DEMOGRAPHIC, PSYCHOSOCIAL, PAIN AND FUNCTIONAL ASSESSMENTS. WE ESTIMATED FIVE EPIGENETIC CLOCKS AND CALCULATED THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN EPIGENETIC AGE AND CHRONOLOGICAL AGE, WHICH HAS BEEN PREVIOUSLY REPORTED TO PREDICT OVERALL MORTALITY RISK, AS WELL AS INCLUDED ADDITIONAL DERIVED VARIABLES OF EPIGENETIC AGE PREVIOUSLY ASSOCIATED WITH PAIN. THERE WERE SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES ACROSS PAIN IMPACT GROUPS IN THREE OUT OF THE FIVE EPIGENETIC CLOCKS EXAMINED (DNAMAGE, DNAMPHENOAGE AND DNAMGRIMAGE), INDICATING THAT PAIN-RELATED DISABILITY DURING THE PAST 6 MONTHS WAS ASSOCIATED WITH MARKERS OF EPIGENETIC AGING. ONLY DNAMPHENOAGE AND DNAMGRIMAGE WERE ASSOCIATED WITH HIGHER KNEE PAIN INTENSITY DURING THE PAST 48 H. FINALLY, PAIN CATASTROPHIZING, DEPRESSIVE SYMPTOMATOLOGY AND MORE NEUROPATHIC PAIN SYMPTOMS WERE SIGNIFICANTLY ASSOCIATED WITH AN OLDER EPIGENOME IN ONLY ONE OF THE FIVE EPIGENETIC CLOCKS (I.E. DNAMGRIMAGE) AFTER CORRECTING FOR MULTIPLE COMPARISONS (CORRECTED P'S < 0.05). GIVEN THE SCANT LITERATURE IN RELATION TO EPIGENETIC AGING AND THE COMPLEX EXPERIENCE OF PAIN, ADDITIONAL RESEARCH IS NEEDED TO UNDERSTAND WHETHER EPIGENETIC AGING MAY HELP IDENTIFY PEOPLE WITH CHRONIC PAIN AT GREATER RISK OF FUNCTIONAL DECLINE AND POORER HEALTH OUTCOMES.	2022	
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            
8 5884  38 SYSTEMIC INFLAMMATION AND BIOLOGICAL AGING IN THE HEALTH AND RETIREMENT STUDY. CHRONIC, LOW-LEVEL SYSTEMIC INFLAMMATION ASSOCIATED WITH AGING, OR INFLAMMAGING, IS A RISK FACTOR FOR SEVERAL CHRONIC DISEASES AND MORTALITY. USING DATA FROM THE HEALTH AND RETIREMENT STUDY, WE GENERATED A CONTINUOUS LATENT VARIABLE FOR SYSTEMIC INFLAMMATION FROM SEVEN MEASURED INDICATORS OF INFLAMMATION AND EXAMINED ASSOCIATIONS WITH ANOTHER BIOMARKER OF BIOLOGICAL AGING, DNA METHYLATION AGE ACCELERATION MEASURED BY EPIGENETIC CLOCKS, AND 4-YEAR MORTALITY (N = 3,113). WE FOUND THAT GREATER SYSTEMIC INFLAMMATION WAS POSITIVELY ASSOCIATED WITH DNA METHYLATION AGE ACCELERATION FOR 10 OF THE 13 EPIGENETIC CLOCKS, AFTER ADJUSTMENT FOR SOCIODEMOGRAPHICS AND CHRONIC DISEASE RISK FACTORS. THE LATENT VARIABLE FOR SYSTEMIC INFLAMMATION WAS ASSOCIATED WITH 4-YEAR MORTALITY INDEPENDENT OF DNA METHYLATION AGE ACCELERATION AND WAS A BETTER PREDICTOR OF 4-YEAR MORTALITY THAN ANY OF THE EPIGENETIC CLOCKS EXAMINED, AS WELL AS MORTALITY RISK FACTORS, INCLUDING OBESITY AND MULTIMORBIDITY. INFLAMMAGING AND DNA METHYLATION AGE ACCELERATION MAY REPRESENT DIFFERENT BIOLOGICAL PROCESSES CONTRIBUTING TO MORTALITY RISK. LEVERAGING MULTIPLE MEASURED INFLAMMATION MARKERS TO CAPTURE INFLAMMAGING IS IMPORTANT FOR BIOLOGY OF AGING RESEARCH.	2023	
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       
9 6027  30 THE BLOOD DNA METHYLATION CLOCK GRIMAGE IS A ROBUST SURROGATE FOR AIRWAY EPITHELIA AGING. ONE KEY FEATURE OF CHRONIC OBSTRUCTIVE PULMONARY DISEASE (COPD) IS THAT ITS PREVALENCE INCREASES EXPONENTIALLY WITH AGE. DNA METHYLATION CLOCKS HAVE BECOME POWERFUL BIOMARKERS TO DETECT ACCELERATED AGING IN A VARIETY OF DISEASES AND CAN HELP PROGNOSE OUTCOMES IN SEVERE COPD. THIS STUDY INVESTIGATED WHICH DNA METHYLATION CLOCK COULD BEST REFLECT AIRWAY EPIGENETIC AGE WHEN USED IN MORE ACCESSIBLE BLOOD SAMPLES. OUR ANALYSES SHOWED THAT OUT OF SIX DNA METHYLATION CLOCKS INVESTIGATED, DNAMGRIMAGE DEMONSTRATED THE STRONGEST CORRELATION AND THE SMALLEST DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE AIRWAY EPITHELIUM AND BLOOD. OUR FINDINGS SUGGESTS THAT BLOOD DNAMGRIMAGE ACCURATELY REFLECTS AIRWAY EPIGENETIC AGE OF INDIVIDUALS AND THAT ITS ELEVATION IS HIGHLY ASSOCIATED WITH COPD.	2022	
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                
10 3391  37 HORMETIC ASSOCIATION BETWEEN PERCEIVED STRESS AND HUMAN EPIGENETIC AGING BASED ON RESILIENCE CAPACITY. CHRONIC STRESS IS ASSOCIATED WITH DELETERIOUS HEALTH OUTCOMES AND MORTALITY RISK. A POTENTIAL MECHANISM BY WHICH STRESS AFFECTS HEALTHSPAN AND LIFESPAN IS ACCELERATION OF CELLULAR AGING. BIOLOGIC AGE PREDICTION MODELS, TERMED EPIGENETIC CLOCKS, HAVE BEEN DEVELOPED TO ESTIMATE BIOLOGIC AGE DIFFERENCES AMONG PEOPLE WITH THE SAME CHRONOLOGIC AGE. THIS STUDY EVALUATES THE SIMULTANEOUS IMPACT OF PERCEIVED CHRONIC STRESS AND RESILIENCE ON GRIM AGE ACCELERATION. THE PERCEIVED STRESS SCORE (PSS) AND CONNOR-DAVIDSON RESILIENCE SCALE (CD-RISC) WERE USED TO MEASURE CHRONIC STRESS AND RESILIENCE, RESPECTIVELY. DNA WAS EXTRACTED FROM WHOLE BLOOD AND ANALYZED USING THE METHYLATIONEPIC BEADCHIP. GRIMAGE ESTIMATES WERE CALCULATED USING THE METHYLATION AGE CALCULATOR. FORTY-SEVEN BUSINESS EXECUTIVES WERE CATEGORIZED BY LEVELS OF HIGH OR LOW STRESS AND RESILIENCE SCORES. COMPARED TO PARTICIPANTS WITH LOW STRESS AND HIGH RESILIENCE, THOSE WITH LOW STRESS AND LOW RESILIENCE DEMONSTRATED THE STRONGEST ASSOCIATION WITH GRIM AGE ACCELERATION (P = 0.044), AFTER CONTROLLING FOR AGE AND ESTIMATED CELLULAR PROPORTIONS. INTERESTINGLY, AMONG PARTICIPANTS WITH LOW RESILIENCE, THOSE WITH HIGH PERCEIVED STRESS HAD A WEAKER ASSOCIATION WITH GRIM AGE ACCELERATION THAN PARTICIPANTS WITH LOW PERCEIVED STRESS. HOWEVER, AMONG PARTICIPANTS WITH HIGH RESILIENCE, LOW PERCEIVED STRESS HAD A WEAKER ASSOCIATION WITH GRIM AGE ACCELERATION THAN HIGH PERCEIVED STRESS. OUR FINDINGS SUGGEST THAT THE IMPACT OF PERCEIVED STRESS ON EPIGENETIC AGE ACCELERATION MAY DIFFER BASED ON RESILIENCE CAPACITY, WITH A POTENTIAL PARADOXICAL BENEFICIAL EFFECT AMONG THOSE WITH LOW RESILIENCE.	2022	
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      
11 1746  35 EARLY LIFE ADVERSITY, PUBERTAL TIMING, AND EPIGENETIC AGE ACCELERATION IN ADULTHOOD. BACKGROUND: GIVEN ASSOCIATIONS LINKING EARLY LIFE ADVERSITY, PUBERTAL TIMING, AND BIOLOGICAL AGING, WE EXAMINED THE DIRECT AND INDIRECT EFFECTS OF EARLY LIFE TRAUMA ON ADULT BIOLOGICAL AGING (VIA AGE OF MENARCHE). METHODS: PARTICIPANTS WERE PREMENOPAUSAL WOMEN (N = 183). PATH MODELS EVALUATED WHETHER EARLY LIFE TRAUMA PREDICTED EARLY PUBERTAL TIMING AND THEREBY, ADULT EPIGENETIC AGE ACCELERATION (INDEXED VIA FOUR EPIGENETIC CLOCKS: HORVATH DNAM AGE, HANNUM DNAM AGE, DNAM PHENOAGE, AND DNAM GRIMAGE). SECONDARY ANALYSES EXPLORED THE EFFECTS OF TYPE OF TRAUMA (ABUSE AND NEGLECT) AND ADULT CHRONIC STRESS STATUS (CAREGIVER OF CHILD WITH AUTISM AND NON-CAREGIVER). RESULTS: EARLY LIFE TRAUMA AND EARLIER AGE AT MENARCHE INDEPENDENTLY PREDICTED ACCELERATED AGING BASED ON ONE OF THE FOUR EPIGENETIC CLOCKS, DNAM GRIMAGE, THOUGH EARLY LIFE TRAUMA WAS NOT ASSOCIATED WITH AGE OF MENARCHE. CHILDHOOD ABUSE, BUT NOT NEGLECT, PREDICTED FASTER EPIGENETIC AGING; RESULTS DID NOT DIFFER BY CHRONIC STRESS STATUS. CONCLUSIONS: EARLY TRAUMA AND EARLY MENARCHE APPEAR TO EXERT INDEPENDENT EFFECTS ON DNAM GRIMAGE, WHICH HAS BEEN SHOWN TO BE THE STRONGEST EPIGENETIC PREDICTOR OF MORTALITY RISK. THIS STUDY IDENTIFIES A POTENTIAL CORRELATE OR DETERMINANT OF ACCELERATED EPIGENETIC AGING-MENARCHEAL AGE. FUTURE RESEARCH SHOULD ADDRESS THE LIMITATIONS OF THIS STUDY BY USING RACIALLY DIVERSE SAMPLES.	2021	
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   
12 2643  42 EPIGENOMIC ASSOCIATION ANALYSIS IDENTIFIES SMOKING-RELATED DNA METHYLATION SITES IN AFRICAN AMERICANS. CIGARETTE SMOKING IS AN ENVIRONMENTAL RISK FACTOR FOR MANY CHRONIC DISEASES, AND DISEASE RISK CAN OFTEN BE MANAGED BY SMOKING CONTROL. SMOKING CAN INDUCE CELLULAR AND MOLECULAR CHANGES, INCLUDING EPIGENETIC MODIFICATION, BUT THE SHORT- AND LONG-TERM EPIGENETIC MODIFICATIONS CAUSED BY CIGARETTE SMOKING AT THE GENE LEVEL HAVE NOT BEEN WELL UNDERSTOOD. RECENT STUDIES HAVE IDENTIFIED SMOKING-RELATED DNA METHYLATION (DNAM) SITES IN CAUCASIANS. TO DETERMINE WHETHER THE SAME DNAM SITES ASSOCIATE WITH SMOKING IN AFRICAN AMERICANS, AND TO IDENTIFY NOVEL SMOKING-RELATED DNAM SITES, WE CONDUCTED A METHYLOME-WIDE ASSOCIATION STUDY OF CIGARETTE SMOKING USING A DISCOVERY SAMPLE OF 972 AFRICAN AMERICANS, AND A REPLICATION SAMPLE OF 239 AFRICAN AMERICANS WITH TWO ARRAY-BASED METHODS. AMONG 15 DNAM SITES SIGNIFICANTLY ASSOCIATED WITH SMOKING AFTER CORRECTION FOR MULTIPLE TESTING IN OUR DISCOVERY SAMPLE, 5 DNAM SITES ARE REPLICATED IN AN INDEPENDENT COHORT, AND 14 SITES IN THE REPLICATION SAMPLE HAVE EFFECTS IN THE SAME DIRECTION AS IN THE DISCOVERY SAMPLE. THE TOP TWO SMOKING-RELATED DNAM SITES IN F2RL3 (FACTOR II RECEPTOR-LIKE 3) AND GPR15 (G-PROTEIN-COUPLED RECEPTOR 15) OBSERVED IN AFRICAN AMERICANS ARE CONSISTENT WITH PREVIOUS FINDINGS IN CAUCASIANS. THE ASSOCIATIONS BETWEEN THE REPLICATED DNAM SITES AND SMOKING REMAIN SIGNIFICANT AFTER ADJUSTING FOR GENETIC BACKGROUND. DESPITE THE DISTINCT GENETIC BACKGROUND BETWEEN AFRICAN AMERICANS AND CAUCASIANS, THE DNAM FROM THE TWO ETHNIC GROUPS SHARES COMMON ASSOCIATIONS WITH CIGARETTE SMOKING, WHICH SUGGESTS A COMMON MOLECULAR MECHANISM OF EPIGENETIC MODIFICATION INFLUENCED BY ENVIRONMENTAL EXPOSURE.	2013	
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    
13  176  48 ACCELERATED DNA METHYLATION AGE AND MEDICATION USE AMONG AFRICAN AMERICANS. DNA METHYLATION AGE ACCELERATION, THE DISCREPANCY BETWEEN EPIGENETIC AGE AND CHRONOLOGICAL AGE, IS ASSOCIATED WITH MORTALITY AND CHRONIC DISEASES, INCLUDING DIABETES, HYPERTENSION, AND HYPERLIPIDEMIA. IN THIS STUDY, WE INVESTIGATE WHETHER MEDICATIONS COMMONLY USED TO TREAT THESE DISEASES IN 15 DRUG CATEGORIES ARE ASSOCIATED WITH FOUR EPIGENETIC AGE ACCELERATION MEASURES: HORVATHAGE ACCELERATION (HORVATHAA), HANNUMAGE ACCELERATION (HANNUMAA), PHENOAGE ACCELERATION, AND GRIMAGE ACCELERATION (GRIMAA) USING CROSS-SECTIONAL (PHASE 1, N=1,100) AND LONGITUDINAL (PHASES 1 AND 2, N=266) DATA FROM AFRICAN AMERICANS IN THE GENETIC EPIDEMIOLOGY NETWORK OF ARTERIOPATHY (GENOA) STUDY. IN CROSS-SECTIONAL ANALYSES, THE USE OF CALCIUM CHANNEL BLOCKERS WAS ASSOCIATED WITH 1.27 YEARS LOWER HANNUMAA AFTER ADJUSTING FOR COVARIATES INCLUDING HYPERTENSION (P=0.001). LONGITUDINAL ANALYSES SHOWED THAT, COMPARED TO THOSE WHO NEVER USED ANTIHYPERTENSIVES, THOSE WHO STARTED TO TAKE ANTIHYPERTENSIVES AFTER PHASE 1 HAD A 0.97-YEAR DECREASE IN GRIMAA (P=0.007). IN ADDITION, COMPARED TO THOSE WHO NEVER USED NSAID ANALGESICS, THOSE WHO STARTED TO TAKE THEM AFTER PHASE 1 HAD A 2.61-YEAR INCREASE IN HORVATHAA (P=0.0005). OUR STUDY DEMONSTRATES THAT THREE COMMONLY USED MEDICATIONS ARE ASSOCIATED WITH DNAM AGE ACCELERATION IN AFRICAN AMERICANS AND SHEDS LIGHT ON THE POTENTIAL EPIGENETIC EFFECTS OF PHARMACEUTICALS ON AGING AT THE CELLULAR LEVEL.	2021	
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                
14  178  34 ACCELERATED EPIGENETIC AGING AS A RISK FACTOR FOR CHRONIC OBSTRUCTIVE PULMONARY DISEASE AND DECREASED LUNG FUNCTION IN TWO PROSPECTIVE COHORT STUDIES. CHRONIC OBSTRUCTIVE PULMONARY DISEASE (COPD) IS A FREQUENT DIAGNOSIS IN OLDER INDIVIDUALS AND CONTRIBUTOR TO GLOBAL MORBIDITY AND MORTALITY. GIVEN THE LINK BETWEEN LUNG DISEASE AND AGING, WE NEED TO UNDERSTAND HOW MOLECULAR INDICATORS OF AGING RELATE TO LUNG FUNCTION AND DISEASE. USING DATA FROM THE POPULATION-BASED KORA (COOPERATIVE HEALTH RESEARCH IN THE REGION OF AUGSBURG) SURVEYS, WE ASSOCIATED BASELINE EPIGENETIC (DNA METHYLATION) AGE ACCELERATION WITH INCIDENT COPD AND LUNG FUNCTION. MODELS WERE ADJUSTED FOR AGE, SEX, SMOKING, HEIGHT, WEIGHT, AND BASELINE LUNG DISEASE AS APPROPRIATE. ASSOCIATIONS WERE REPLICATED IN THE NORMATIVE AGING STUDY. OF 770 KORA PARTICIPANTS, 131 DEVELOPED INCIDENT COPD OVER 7 YEARS. BASELINE ACCELERATED EPIGENETIC AGING WAS SIGNIFICANTLY ASSOCIATED WITH INCIDENT COPD. THE CHANGE IN AGE ACCELERATION (FOLLOW-UP - BASELINE) WAS MORE STRONGLY ASSOCIATED WITH COPD THAN BASELINE AGING ALONE. THE ASSOCIATION BETWEEN THE CHANGE IN AGE ACCELERATION BETWEEN BASELINE AND FOLLOW-UP AND INCIDENT COPD REPLICATED IN THE NORMATIVE AGING STUDY. ASSOCIATIONS WITH SPIROMETRIC LUNG FUNCTION PARAMETERS WERE WEAKER THAN THOSE WITH COPD, BUT A META-ANALYSIS OF BOTH COHORTS PROVIDE SUGGESTIVE EVIDENCE OF ASSOCIATIONS. ACCELERATED EPIGENETIC AGING, BOTH BASELINE MEASURES AND CHANGES OVER TIME, MAY BE A RISK FACTOR FOR COPD AND REDUCED LUNG FUNCTION.	2020	
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          
15 1955  41 EPIGENETIC AGE ACCELERATION PREDICTS CANCER, CARDIOVASCULAR, AND ALL-CAUSE MORTALITY IN A GERMAN CASE COHORT. BACKGROUND: PREVIOUS STUDIES HAVE DEVELOPED MODELS PREDICTING METHYLATION AGE FROM DNA METHYLATION IN BLOOD AND OTHER TISSUES (EPIGENETIC CLOCK) AND SUGGESTED THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN DNA METHYLATION AND CHRONOLOGICAL AGES AS A MARKER OF HEALTHY AGING. THE GOAL OF THIS STUDY WAS TO CONFIRM AND EXPAND SUCH OBSERVATIONS BY INVESTIGATING WHETHER DIFFERENT CONCEPTS OF THE EPIGENETIC CLOCKS IN A POPULATION-BASED COHORT ARE ASSOCIATED WITH CANCER, CARDIOVASCULAR, AND ALL-CAUSE MORTALITY. RESULTS: DNA METHYLATION AGE WAS ESTIMATED IN A COHORT OF 1863 OLDER PEOPLE, AND THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN AGE PREDICTED BY DNA METHYLATION AND CHRONOLOGICAL AGE (DELTAAGE) WAS CALCULATED. A CASE-COHORT DESIGN AND WEIGHTED PROPORTIONAL COX HAZARD MODELS WERE USED TO ESTIMATE ASSOCIATIONS OF DELTAAGE WITH CANCER, CARDIOVASCULAR, AND ALL-CAUSE MORTALITY. HAZARD RATIOS FOR DELTAAGE (PER 5 YEARS) CALCULATED USING THE EPIGENETIC CLOCK DEVELOPED BY HORVATH WERE 1.23 (95 % CI 1.10-1.38) FOR ALL-CAUSE MORTALITY, 1.22 (95 % CI 1.03-1.45) FOR CANCER MORTALITY, AND 1.19 (95 % CI 0.98-1.43) FOR CARDIOVASCULAR MORTALITY AFTER ADJUSTMENT FOR BATCH EFFECTS, AGE, SEX, EDUCATIONAL LEVEL, HISTORY OF CHRONIC DISEASES, HYPERTENSION, SMOKING STATUS, BODY MASS INDEX, AND LEUCOCYTE DISTRIBUTION. ASSOCIATIONS WERE SIMILAR BUT WEAKER FOR DELTAAGE CALCULATED USING THE EPIGENETIC CLOCK DEVELOPED BY HANNUM. CONCLUSIONS: THESE RESULTS SHOW THAT AGE ACCELERATION IN TERMS OF THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN AGE PREDICTED BY DNA METHYLATION AND CHRONOLOGICAL AGE IS AN INDEPENDENT PREDICTOR OF ALL-CAUSE AND CAUSE-SPECIFIC MORTALITY AND MAY BE USEFUL AS A GENERAL MARKER OF HEALTHY AGING.	2016	
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         
16 6508  30 TRAJECTORIES OF INFLAMMATORY BIOMARKERS OVER THE EIGHTH DECADE AND THEIR ASSOCIATIONS WITH IMMUNE CELL PROFILES AND EPIGENETIC AGEING. BACKGROUND: EPIGENETIC AGE ACCELERATION (AN OLDER METHYLATION AGE COMPARED TO CHRONOLOGICAL AGE) CORRELATES STRONGLY WITH VARIOUS AGE-RELATED MORBIDITIES AND MORTALITY. CHRONIC SYSTEMIC INFLAMMATION IS THOUGHT TO BE A HALLMARK OF AGEING, BUT THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN AN INCREASED EPIGENETIC AGE AND THIS LIKELY KEY PHENOTYPE OF AGEING HAS NOT YET BEEN EXTENSIVELY INVESTIGATED. METHODS: WE MODELLED THE TRAJECTORIES OF THE INFLAMMATORY BIOMARKERS C-REACTIVE PROTEIN (CRP; MEASURED USING BOTH A HIGH- AND LOW-SENSITIVITY ASSAY) AND INTERLEUKIN-6 (IL-6) OVER THE EIGHTH DECADE IN THE LOTHIAN BIRTH COHORT 1936. USING LINEAR MIXED MODELS, WE INVESTIGATED THE ASSOCIATION BETWEEN CRP AND IMMUNE CELL PROFILES IMPUTED FROM THE METHYLATION DATA AND EXAMINED THE CROSS-SECTIONAL AND LONGITUDINAL ASSOCIATION BETWEEN THE INFLAMMATORY BIOMARKERS AND TWO MEASURES OF EPIGENETIC AGE ACCELERATION, DERIVED FROM THE HORVATH AND HANNUM EPIGENETIC CLOCKS. RESULTS: WE FOUND THAT LOW-SENSITIVITY CRP DECLINED, HIGH-SENSITIVITY CRP DID NOT CHANGE, AND IL-6 INCREASED OVER TIME WITHIN THE COHORT. CRP LEVELS INVERSELY ASSOCIATED WITH CD8+T CELLS AND CD4+T CELLS AND POSITIVELY ASSOCIATED WITH SENESCENT CD8+T CELLS, PLASMABLASTS AND GRANULOCYTES. CROSS-SECTIONALLY, THE HANNUM, BUT NOT THE HORVATH, MEASURE OF AGE ACCELERATION WAS POSITIVELY ASSOCIATED WITH EACH OF THE INFLAMMATORY BIOMARKERS, INCLUDING A RESTRICTED MEASURE OF CRP (</= 10 MG/L) LIKELY REFLECTING LEVELS RELEVANT TO CHRONIC INFLAMMATION. CONCLUSIONS: WE FOUND A DIVERGENT RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN INFLAMMATION AND IMMUNE SYSTEM PARAMETERS IN OLDER AGE. WE ADDITIONALLY REPORT THE HANNUM MEASURE OF EPIGENETIC AGE ACCELERATION ASSOCIATED WITH AN ELEVATED INFLAMMATORY PROFILE CROSS-SECTIONALLY, BUT NOT LONGITUDINALLY.	2018	
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         
17 2043  39 EPIGENETIC CLOCK ANALYSIS IN LONG-TERM MEDITATORS. IN THIS PAPER, WE EXAMINED WHETHER MEDITATION PRACTICE INFLUENCES THE EPIGENETIC CLOCK, A STRONG AND REPRODUCIBLE BIOMARKER OF BIOLOGICAL AGING, WHICH IS ACCELERATED BY CUMULATIVE LIFETIME STRESS AND WITH AGE-RELATED CHRONIC DISEASES. USING THE ILLUMINA 450K ARRAY PLATFORM, WE ANALYZED THE DNA METHYLOME FROM BLOOD CELLS OF LONG-TERM MEDITATORS AND MEDITATION-NAIVE CONTROLS TO ESTIMATE THEIR INTRINSIC EPIGENETIC AGE ACCELERATION (IEAA), USING HORVATH'S CALCULATOR. IEAA WAS SIMILAR IN BOTH GROUPS. HOWEVER, CONTROLS SHOWED A DIFFERENT IEAA TRAJECTORY WITH AGING THAN MEDITATORS: OLDER CONTROLS (AGE>/=52) HAD SIGNIFICANTLY HIGHER IEAAS COMPARED WITH YOUNGER CONTROLS (AGE <52), WHILE MEDITATORS WERE PROTECTED FROM THIS EPIGENETIC AGING EFFECT. NOTABLY, IN THE MEDITATION GROUP, WE FOUND A SIGNIFICANT NEGATIVE CORRELATION BETWEEN IEAA AND THE NUMBER OF YEARS OF REGULAR MEDITATION PRACTICE. FROM OUR RESULTS, WE HYPOTHESIZE THAT THE CUMULATIVE EFFECTS OF A REGULAR MEDITATION PRACTICE MAY, IN THE LONG-TERM, HELP TO SLOW THE EPIGENETIC CLOCK AND COULD REPRESENT A USEFUL PREVENTIVE STRATEGY FOR AGE-RELATED CHRONIC DISEASES. LONGITUDINAL RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIALS IN LARGER COHORTS ARE WARRANTED TO CONFIRM AND FURTHER CHARACTERIZE THESE FINDINGS.	2017	
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          
18 2922  45 GENE-SPECIFIC DNA METHYLATION ASSOCIATION WITH SERUM LEVELS OF C-REACTIVE PROTEIN IN AFRICAN AMERICANS. A MORE THOROUGH UNDERSTANDING OF THE DIFFERENCES IN DNA METHYLATION (DNAM) PROFILES IN POPULATIONS MAY HOLD PROMISE FOR IDENTIFYING MOLECULAR MECHANISMS THROUGH WHICH GENETIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS JOINTLY CONTRIBUTE TO HUMAN DISEASES. INFLAMMATION IS A KEY MOLECULAR MECHANISM UNDERLYING SEVERAL CHRONIC DISEASES INCLUDING CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE, AND IT AFFECTS DNAM PROFILE ON BOTH GLOBAL AND LOCUS-SPECIFIC LEVELS. TO UNDERSTAND THE IMPACT OF INFLAMMATION ON THE DNAM OF THE HUMAN GENOME, WE INVESTIGATED DNAM PROFILES OF PERIPHERAL BLOOD LEUKOCYTES FROM 966 AFRICAN AMERICAN PARTICIPANTS IN THE GENETIC EPIDEMIOLOGY NETWORK OF ARTERIOPATHY (GENOA) STUDY. BY TESTING THE ASSOCIATION OF DNAM SITES ON CPG ISLANDS OF OVER 14,000 GENES WITH C-REACTIVE PROTEIN (CRP), AN INFLAMMATORY BIOMARKER OF CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE, WE IDENTIFIED 257 DNAM SITES IN 240 GENES SIGNIFICANTLY ASSOCIATED WITH SERUM LEVELS OF CRP ADJUSTED FOR AGE, SEX, BODY MASS INDEX AND SMOKING STATUS, AND CORRECTED FOR MULTIPLE TESTING. OF THE SIGNIFICANTLY ASSOCIATED DNAM SITES, 80.5% WERE HYPOMETHYLATED WITH HIGHER CRP LEVELS. THE MOST SIGNIFICANT GENE ONTOLOGY TERMS ENRICHED IN THE GENES ASSOCIATED WITH THE CRP LEVELS WERE IMMUNE SYSTEM PROCESS, IMMUNE RESPONSE, DEFENSE RESPONSE, RESPONSE TO STIMULUS, AND RESPONSE TO STRESS, WHICH ARE ALL LINKED TO THE FUNCTIONS OF LEUKOCYTES. WHILE THE CRP-ASSOCIATED DNAM MAY BE CELL-TYPE SPECIFIC, UNDERSTANDING THE DNAM ASSOCIATION WITH CRP IN PERIPHERAL BLOOD LEUKOCYTES OF MULTI-ETHNIC POPULATIONS CAN ASSIST IN UNVEILING THE MOLECULAR MECHANISM OF HOW THE PROCESS OF INFLAMMATION AFFECTS THE RISKS OF DEVELOPING COMMON DISEASE THROUGH EPIGENETIC MODIFICATIONS.	2013	
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        
19 6112  43 THE EPIGENETIC CLOCK AS A PREDICTOR OF DISEASE AND MORTALITY RISK: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW AND META-ANALYSIS. BACKGROUND: AGEING IS ONE OF THE PRINCIPAL RISK FACTORS FOR MANY CHRONIC DISEASES. HOWEVER, THERE IS CONSIDERABLE BETWEEN-PERSON VARIATION IN THE RATE OF AGEING AND INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES IN THEIR SUSCEPTIBILITY TO DISEASE AND DEATH. EPIGENETIC MECHANISMS MAY PLAY A ROLE IN HUMAN AGEING, AND DNA METHYLATION AGE BIOMARKERS MAY BE GOOD PREDICTORS OF AGE-RELATED DISEASES AND MORTALITY RISK. THE AIMS OF THIS SYSTEMATIC REVIEW WERE TO IDENTIFY AND SYNTHESISE THE EVIDENCE FOR AN ASSOCIATION BETWEEN PERIPHERALLY MEASURED DNA METHYLATION AGE AND LONGEVITY, AGE-RELATED DISEASE, AND MORTALITY RISK. METHODS: A SYSTEMATIC SEARCH WAS CONDUCTED IN LINE WITH THE PREFERRED REPORTING ITEMS FOR SYSTEMATIC REVIEWS AND META-ANALYSES (PRISMA) GUIDELINES. USING RELEVANT SEARCH TERMS, MEDLINE, EMBASE, COCHRANE CENTRAL REGISTER OF CONTROLLED TRIALS, AND PSYCHINFO DATABASES WERE SEARCHED TO IDENTIFY ARTICLES MEETING THE INCLUSION CRITERIA. STUDIES WERE ASSESSED FOR BIAS USING JOANNA BRIGGS INSTITUTE CRITICAL APPRAISAL CHECKLISTS. DATA WAS EXTRACTED FROM STUDIES MEASURING AGE ACCELERATION AS A PREDICTOR OF AGE-RELATED DISEASES, MORTALITY OR LONGEVITY, AND THE FINDINGS FOR SIMILAR OUTCOMES COMPARED. USING REVIEW MANAGER 5.3 SOFTWARE, TWO META-ANALYSES (ONE PER EPIGENETIC CLOCK) WERE CONDUCTED ON STUDIES MEASURING ALL-CAUSE MORTALITY. RESULTS: TWENTY-THREE RELEVANT ARTICLES WERE IDENTIFIED, INCLUDING A TOTAL OF 41,607 PARTICIPANTS. FOUR STUDIES FOCUSED ON AGEING AND LONGEVITY, 11 ON AGE-RELATED DISEASE (CANCER, CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE, AND DEMENTIA), AND 11 ON MORTALITY. THERE WAS SOME, ALTHOUGH INCONSISTENT, EVIDENCE FOR AN ASSOCIATION BETWEEN INCREASED DNA METHYLATION AGE AND RISK OF DISEASE. META-ANALYSES INDICATED THAT EACH 5-YEAR INCREASE IN DNA METHYLATION AGE WAS ASSOCIATED AN 8 TO 15% INCREASED RISK OF MORTALITY. CONCLUSION: DUE TO THE SMALL NUMBER OF STUDIES AND HETEROGENEITY IN STUDY DESIGN AND OUTCOMES, THE ASSOCIATION BETWEEN DNA METHYLATION AGE AND AGE-RELATED DISEASE AND LONGEVITY IS INCONCLUSIVE. INCREASED EPIGENETIC AGE WAS ASSOCIATED WITH MORTALITY RISK, BUT POSITIVE PUBLICATION BIAS NEEDS TO BE CONSIDERED. FURTHER RESEARCH IS NEEDED TO DETERMINE THE EXTENT TO WHICH DNA METHYLATION AGE CAN BE USED AS A CLINICAL BIOMARKER.	2019	

20 2411  35 EPIGENETIC SCORES FOR THE CIRCULATING PROTEOME AS TOOLS FOR DISEASE PREDICTION. PROTEIN BIOMARKERS HAVE BEEN IDENTIFIED ACROSS MANY AGE-RELATED MORBIDITIES. HOWEVER, CHARACTERISING EPIGENETIC INFLUENCES COULD FURTHER INFORM DISEASE PREDICTIONS. HERE, WE LEVERAGE EPIGENOME-WIDE DATA TO STUDY LINKS BETWEEN THE DNA METHYLATION (DNAM) SIGNATURES OF THE CIRCULATING PROTEOME AND INCIDENT DISEASES. USING DATA FROM FOUR COHORTS, WE TRAINED AND TESTED EPIGENETIC SCORES (EPISCORES) FOR 953 PLASMA PROTEINS, IDENTIFYING 109 SCORES THAT EXPLAINED BETWEEN 1% AND 58% OF THE VARIANCE IN PROTEIN LEVELS AFTER ADJUSTING FOR KNOWN PROTEIN QUANTITATIVE TRAIT LOCI (PQTL) GENETIC EFFECTS. BY PROJECTING THESE EPISCORES INTO AN INDEPENDENT SAMPLE (GENERATION SCOTLAND; N = 9537) AND RELATING THEM TO INCIDENT MORBIDITIES OVER A FOLLOW-UP OF 14 YEARS, WE UNCOVERED 137 EPISCORE-DISEASE ASSOCIATIONS. THESE ASSOCIATIONS WERE LARGELY INDEPENDENT OF IMMUNE CELL PROPORTIONS, COMMON LIFESTYLE AND HEALTH FACTORS, AND BIOLOGICAL AGING. NOTABLY, WE FOUND THAT OUR DIABETES-ASSOCIATED EPISCORES HIGHLIGHTED PREVIOUS TOP BIOMARKER ASSOCIATIONS FROM PROTEOME-WIDE ASSESSMENTS OF DIABETES. THESE EPISCORES FOR PROTEIN LEVELS CAN THEREFORE BE A VALUABLE RESOURCE FOR DISEASE PREDICTION AND RISK STRATIFICATION.	2022