1 2150 160 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 20 INDIVIDUALS IN EACH COMPARISON GROUP, AND EXAMINED ONE OF THE 19 CONDITIONS CONSIDERED. FIRST, WE ASSESSED WHETHER THE ASSOCIATIONS IDENTIFIED IN OUR STUDY WERE REPORTED IN PREVIOUS STUDIES. WE IDENTIFIED 69 ASSOCIATIONS BETWEEN CPGS AND THE PREVALENCE OF 4 CONDITIONS, OF WHICH 58 WERE NEWLY DESCRIBED. THE CONDITIONS WERE BREAST CANCER, CHRONIC KIDNEY DISEASE, ISCHEMIC HEART DISEASE, AND TYPE 2 DIABETES MELLITUS. WE ALSO UNCOVERED 64 CPGS THAT ASSOCIATED WITH THE INCIDENCE OF 2 DISEASE STATES (COPD AND TYPE 2 DIABETES), OF WHICH 56 WERE NOT REPORTED IN THE SURVEYED LITERATURE. SECOND, WE ASSESSED REPLICATION ACROSS EXISTING STUDIES, WHICH WAS DEFINED AS THE REPORTING OF AT LEAST 1 COMMON SITE IN >2 STUDIES THAT EXAMINED THE SAME CONDITION. ONLY 6/19 DISEASE STATES HAD EVIDENCE OF SUCH REPLICATION. THE LIMITATIONS OF THIS STUDY INCLUDE THE NONCONSIDERATION OF MEDICATION DATA AND A POTENTIAL LACK OF GENERALIZABILITY TO INDIVIDUALS THAT ARE NOT OF SCOTTISH AND EUROPEAN ANCESTRY. CONCLUSIONS: WE DISCOVERED OVER 100 ASSOCIATIONS BETWEEN BLOOD METHYLATION SITES AND COMMON DISEASE STATES, INDEPENDENTLY OF MAJOR CONFOUNDING RISK FACTORS, AND A NEED FOR GREATER STANDARDISATION AMONG EWAS ON HUMAN DISEASE. 2023 15 2734 46 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 16 3391 39 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 17 2147 46 EPIGENETIC MARKER OF TELOMERIC AGE IS ASSOCIATED WITH EXACERBATIONS AND HOSPITALIZATIONS IN CHRONIC OBSTRUCTIVE PULMONARY DISEASE. BACKGROUND: CHRONIC OBSTRUCTIVE PULMONARY DISEASE (COPD) IS AN AGE-RELATED CONDITION THAT HAS BEEN ASSOCIATED WITH EARLY TELOMERE ATTRITION; THE CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS OF TELOMERE SHORTENING IN COPD ARE NOT WELL KNOWN. IN THIS STUDY WE AIMED TO DETERMINE THE RELATIONSHIP OF THE EPIGENETIC REGULATION OF TELOMERIC LENGTH IN PERIPHERAL BLOOD WITH THE RISK OF EXACERBATIONS AND HOSPITALIZATION IN PATIENTS WITH COPD. METHODS: BLOOD DNA METHYLATION PROFILES WERE OBTAINED FROM 292 PATIENTS WITH COPD ENROLLED IN THE PLACEBO ARM OF THE MACROLIDE AZITHROMYCIN TO PREVENT RAPID WORSENING OF SYMPTOMS ASSOCIATED WITH CHRONIC OBSTRUCTIVE PULMONARY DISEASE (MACRO) STUDY AND WHO WERE FOLLOWED FOR 1-YEAR. WE CALCULATED TELOMERE LENGTH BASED ON DNA METHYLATION MARKERS (DNAMTL) AND RELATED THIS BIOMARKER TO THE RISK OF EXACERBATION AND HOSPITALIZATION AND HEALTH STATUS (ST. GEORGE RESPIRATORY QUESTIONNAIRE [SGRQ]) SCORE OVER TIME USING A COX PROPORTIONAL HAZARDS MODEL. WE ALSO USED LINEAR MODELS TO INVESTIGATE THE ASSOCIATIONS OF DNAMTL WITH THE RATES OF EXACERBATION AND HOSPITALIZATION (ADJUSTED FOR CHRONOLOGICAL AGE, LUNG FUNCTION, RACE, SEX, SMOKING, BODY MASS INDEX AND CELL COMPOSITION). RESULTS: PARTICIPANTS WITH SHORT DNAMTL DEMONSTRATED INCREASED RISK OF EXACERBATION (P = 0.02) AND HOSPITALIZATION (P = 0.03) COMPARED TO THOSE WITH LONGER DNAMTL. DNAMTL AGE ACCELERATION WAS ASSOCIATED WITH HIGHER RATES OF EXACERBATION (P = 1.35 X 10(-04)) AND HOSPITALIZATION (P = 5.21 X 10(-03)) AND POOR HEALTH STATUS (LOWER SGRQ SCORES) INDEPENDENT OF CHRONOLOGICAL AGE (P = 0.03). CONCLUSION: TELOMERIC AGE BASED ON BLOOD DNA METHYLATION IS ASSOCIATED WITH COPD EXACERBATION AND HOSPITALIZATION AND THUS A PROMISING BIOMARKER FOR POOR OUTCOMES IN COPD. 2021 18 1625 55 DNAM-BASED SIGNATURES OF ACCELERATED AGING AND MORTALITY IN BLOOD ARE ASSOCIATED WITH LOW RENAL FUNCTION. BACKGROUND: THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN AN INDIVIDUAL'S CHRONOLOGICAL AND DNA METHYLATION PREDICTED AGE (DNAMAGE), TERMED DNAMAGE ACCELERATION (DNAMAA), CAN CAPTURE LIFE-LONG ENVIRONMENTAL EXPOSURES AND AGE-RELATED PHYSIOLOGICAL CHANGES REFLECTED IN METHYLATION STATUS. SEVERAL STUDIES HAVE LINKED DNAMAA TO MORBIDITY AND MORTALITY, YET ITS RELATIONSHIP WITH KIDNEY FUNCTION HAS NOT BEEN ASSESSED. WE EVALUATED THE ASSOCIATIONS BETWEEN SEVEN DNAM AGING AND LIFESPAN PREDICTORS (AS WELL AS GRIMAGE COMPONENTS) AND FIVE KIDNEY TRAITS (ESTIMATED GLOMERULAR FILTRATION RATE [EGFR], URINE ALBUMIN-TO-CREATININE RATIO [UACR], SERUM URATE, MICROALBUMINURIA AND CHRONIC KIDNEY DISEASE [CKD]) IN UP TO 9688 EUROPEAN, AFRICAN AMERICAN AND HISPANIC/LATINO INDIVIDUALS FROM SEVEN POPULATION-BASED STUDIES. RESULTS: WE IDENTIFIED 23 SIGNIFICANT ASSOCIATIONS IN OUR LARGE TRANS-ETHNIC META-ANALYSIS (P < 1.43E-03 AND CONSISTENT DIRECTION OF EFFECT ACROSS STUDIES). AGE ACCELERATION MEASURED BY THE EXTRINSIC AND PHENOAGE ESTIMATORS, AS WELL AS ZHANG'S 10-CPG EPIGENETIC MORTALITY RISK SCORE (MRS), WERE ASSOCIATED WITH ALL PARAMETERS OF POOR KIDNEY HEALTH (LOWER EGFR, PREVALENT CKD, HIGHER UACR, MICROALBUMINURIA AND HIGHER SERUM URATE). SIX OF THESE ASSOCIATIONS WERE INDEPENDENTLY OBSERVED IN EUROPEAN AND AFRICAN AMERICAN POPULATIONS. MRS IN PARTICULAR WAS CONSISTENTLY ASSOCIATED WITH EGFR (BETA = - 0.12, 95% CI = [- 0.16, - 0.08] CHANGE IN LOG-TRANSFORMED EGFR PER UNIT INCREASE IN MRS, P = 4.39E-08), PREVALENT CKD (ODDS RATIO (OR) = 1.78 [1.47, 2.16], P = 2.71E-09) AND HIGHER SERUM URATE LEVELS (BETA = 0.12 [0.07, 0.16], P = 2.08E-06). THE "FIRST-GENERATION" CLOCKS (HANNUM, HORVATH) AND GRIMAGE SHOWED DIFFERENT PATTERNS OF ASSOCIATION WITH THE KIDNEY TRAITS. THREE OF THE DNAM-ESTIMATED COMPONENTS OF GRIMAGE, NAMELY ADRENOMEDULLIN, PLASMINOGEN-ACTIVATION INHIBITION 1 AND PACK YEARS, WERE POSITIVELY ASSOCIATED WITH HIGHER UACR, SERUM URATE AND MICROALBUMINURIA. CONCLUSION: DNAMAGE ACCELERATION AND DNAM MORTALITY PREDICTORS ESTIMATED IN WHOLE BLOOD WERE ASSOCIATED WITH MULTIPLE KIDNEY TRAITS, INCLUDING EGFR AND CKD, IN THIS MULTI-ETHNIC STUDY. EPIGENETIC BIOMARKERS WHICH REFLECT THE SYSTEMIC EFFECTS OF AGE-RELATED MECHANISMS SUCH AS IMMUNOSENESCENCE, INFLAMMAGING AND OXIDATIVE STRESS MAY HAVE IMPORTANT MECHANISTIC OR PROGNOSTIC ROLES IN KIDNEY DISEASE. OUR STUDY HIGHLIGHTS NEW FINDINGS LINKING KIDNEY DISEASE TO BIOLOGICAL AGING, AND OPPORTUNITIES WARRANTING FUTURE INVESTIGATION INTO DNA METHYLATION BIOMARKERS FOR PROGNOSTIC OR RISK STRATIFICATION IN KIDNEY DISEASE. 2021 19 6112 47 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 2643 37 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