1 5746 110 SMOKING-RELATED DNA METHYLATION IS ASSOCIATED WITH DNA METHYLATION PHENOTYPIC AGE ACCELERATION: THE VETERANS AFFAIRS NORMATIVE AGING STUDY. DNA METHYLATION MAY PLAY A CRITICAL ROLE IN AGING AND AGE-RELATED DISEASES. DNA METHYLATION PHENOTYPIC AGE (DNAMPHENOAGE) IS A NEW AGING BIOMARKER AND PREDICTOR OF CHRONIC DISEASE RISK. WHILE SMOKING IS A STRONG RISK FACTOR FOR CHRONIC DISEASES AND INFLUENCES METHYLATION, ITS INFLUENCE ON DNAMPHENOAGE IS UNKNOWN. WE INVESTIGATED ASSOCIATIONS OF SELF-REPORTED AND EPIGENETIC SMOKING INDICATORS WITH DNAMPHENOAGE ACCELERATION IN A LONGITUDINAL AGING STUDY IN EASTERN MASSACHUSETTS. DNA METHYLATION WAS MEASURED IN WHOLE BLOOD SAMPLES FROM MULTIPLE VISITS FOR 692 MALE PARTICIPANTS IN THE VETERANS AFFAIRS NORMATIVE AGING STUDY DURING 1999-2013. ACCELERATION WAS DEFINED USING RESIDUALS FROM LINEAR REGRESSION OF THE DNAMPHENOAGE ON THE CHRONOLOGICAL AGE. CUMULATIVE SMOKING (PACK-YEARS) WAS SIGNIFICANTLY ASSOCIATED WITH DNAMPHENOAGE ACCELERATION, WHEREAS SELF-REPORTED SMOKING STATUS WAS NOT. WE OBSERVED SIGNIFICANT VALIDATED ASSOCIATIONS BETWEEN SMOKING-RELATED LOCI AND DNAMPHENOAGE ACCELERATION FOR 52 CPG SITES, WHERE 18 WERE HYPOMETHYLATED AND 34 WERE HYPERMETHYLATED, MAPPED TO 16 GENES. THE AHRR GENE HAD THE MOST LOCI (N = 8) AMONG THE 16 GENES. WE GENERATED A SMOKING AGING INDEX BASED ON THESE 52 LOCI, WHICH SHOWED POSITIVE SIGNIFICANT ASSOCIATIONS WITH DNAMPHENOAGE ACCELERATION. THESE EPIGENETIC BIOMARKERS MAY HELP TO PREDICT AGE-RELATED RISKS DRIVEN BY SMOKING. 2019 2 1957 36 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 3 5395 38 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 4 6027 29 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 5 173 37 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 6 178 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 7 2643 35 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 8 1497 35 DNA METHYLATION AGE IS ACCELERATED IN ALCOHOL DEPENDENCE. ALCOHOL DEPENDENCE (ALC) IS A CHRONIC, RELAPSING DISORDER THAT INCREASES THE BURDEN OF CHRONIC DISEASE AND SIGNIFICANTLY CONTRIBUTES TO NUMEROUS PREMATURE DEATHS EACH YEAR. PREVIOUS RESEARCH SUGGESTS THAT CHRONIC, HEAVY ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION IS ASSOCIATED WITH DIFFERENTIAL DNA METHYLATION PATTERNS. IN ADDITION, DNA METHYLATION LEVELS AT CERTAIN CPG SITES HAVE BEEN CORRELATED WITH AGE. WE USED AN EPIGENETIC CLOCK TO INVESTIGATE THE POTENTIAL ROLE OF EXCESSIVE ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION IN EPIGENETIC AGING. WE EXPLORED THIS QUESTION IN FIVE INDEPENDENT COHORTS, INCLUDING DNA METHYLATION DATA DERIVED FROM DATASETS FROM BLOOD (N = 129, N = 329), LIVER (N = 92, N = 49), AND POSTMORTEM PREFRONTAL CORTEX (N = 46). ONE BLOOD DATASET AND ONE LIVER TISSUE DATASET OF INDIVIDUALS WITH ALC EXHIBITED POSITIVE AGE ACCELERATION (P < 0.0001 AND P = 0.0069, RESPECTIVELY), WHEREAS THE OTHER BLOOD AND LIVER TISSUE DATASETS BOTH EXHIBITED TRENDS OF POSITIVE AGE ACCELERATION THAT WERE NOT SIGNIFICANT (P = 0.83 AND P = 0.57, RESPECTIVELY). PREFRONTAL CORTEX TISSUE EXHIBITED A TREND OF NEGATIVE AGE ACCELERATION (P = 0.19). THESE RESULTS SUGGEST THAT EXCESSIVE ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION MAY BE ASSOCIATED WITH EPIGENETIC AGING IN A TISSUE-SPECIFIC MANNER AND WARRANTS FURTHER INVESTIGATION USING MULTIPLE TISSUE SAMPLES FROM THE SAME INDIVIDUALS. 2018 9 6311 35 THE RELATION BETWEEN DNA METHYLATION PATTERNS AND SERUM CYTOKINE LEVELS IN COMMUNITY-DWELLING ADULTS: A PRELIMINARY STUDY. BACKGROUND: THE LEVELS OF CIRCULATING CYTOKINES FLUCTUATE WITH AGE, ACUTE ILLNESS, AND CHRONIC DISEASE, AND ARE PREDICTIVE OF MORTALITY; THIS IS ALSO TRUE FOR PATTERNS OF DNA (CPG) METHYLATION. GIVEN THAT IMMUNE CELLS ARE PARTICULARLY SENSITIVE TO CHANGES IN THE CONCENTRATION OF CYTOKINES IN THEIR MICROENVIRONMENT, WE HYPOTHESIZED THAT SERUM LEVELS OF TNF, IL-6, IL-8 AND IL-10 WOULD CORRELATE WITH GENOME-WIDE ALTERATIONS IN THE DNA METHYLATION LEVELS OF BLOOD LEUKOCYTES. TO TEST THIS, WE EVALUATED COMMUNITY-DWELLING ADULTS (N = 14; 48-78 YEARS OLD) RECRUITED TO A PILOT STUDY FOR THE CANADIAN LONGITUDINAL STUDY ON AGING (CLSA), EXAMINING DNA METHYLATION PATTERNS IN PERIPHERAL BLOOD MONONUCLEAR CELLS USING THE ILLUMINA HUMANMETHYLATION 450 K BEADCHIP. RESULTS: WE SHOW THAT, APART FROM AGE, SERUM IL-10 LEVELS EXHIBITED THE MOST SUBSTANTIAL ASSOCIATION TO DNA METHYLATION PATTERNS, FOLLOWED BY TNF, IL-6 AND IL-8. FURTHERMORE, WHILE THE LEVELS OF THESE CYTOKINES WERE HIGHER IN ELDERLY ADULTS, NO ASSOCIATIONS WITH EPIGENETIC ACCELERATED AGING, DERIVED USING THE EPIGENETIC CLOCK, WERE OBSERVED. CONCLUSIONS: AS A PRELIMINARY STUDY WITH A SMALL SAMPLE SIZE, THE CONCLUSIONS DRAWN FROM THIS WORK MUST BE VIEWED WITH CAUTION; HOWEVER, OUR OBSERVATIONS ARE ENCOURAGING AND CERTAINLY WARRANT MORE SUITABLY POWERED STUDIES OF THIS RELATIONSHIP. 2017 10 1552 37 DNA METHYLATION IS PREDICTIVE OF MORTALITY IN CURRENT AND FORMER SMOKERS. RATIONALE: SMOKING RESULTS IN AT LEAST A DECADE LOWER LIFE EXPECTANCY. MORTALITY AMONG CURRENT SMOKERS IS TWO TO THREE TIMES AS HIGH AS NEVER SMOKERS. DNA METHYLATION IS AN EPIGENETIC MODIFICATION OF THE HUMAN GENOME THAT HAS BEEN ASSOCIATED WITH BOTH CIGARETTE SMOKING AND MORTALITY.OBJECTIVES: WE SOUGHT TO IDENTIFY DNA METHYLATION MARKS IN BLOOD THAT ARE PREDICTIVE OF MORTALITY IN A SUBSET OF THE COPDGENE (GENETIC EPIDEMIOLOGY OF COPD) STUDY, REPRESENTING 101 DEATHS AMONG 667 CURRENT AND FORMER SMOKERS.METHODS: WE ASSAYED GENOME-WIDE DNA METHYLATION IN NON-HISPANIC WHITE SMOKERS WITH AND WITHOUT CHRONIC OBSTRUCTIVE PULMONARY DISEASE (COPD) USING BLOOD SAMPLES FROM THE COPDGENE ENROLLMENT VISIT. WE TESTED WHETHER DNA METHYLATION WAS ASSOCIATED WITH MORTALITY IN MODELS ADJUSTED FOR COPD STATUS, AGE, SEX, CURRENT SMOKING STATUS, AND PACK-YEARS OF CIGARETTE SMOKING. REPLICATION WAS PERFORMED IN A SUBSET OF 231 INDIVIDUALS FROM THE ECLIPSE (EVALUATION OF COPD LONGITUDINALLY TO IDENTIFY PREDICTIVE SURROGATE ENDPOINTS) STUDY.MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: WE IDENTIFIED SEVEN CPG SITES ASSOCIATED WITH MORTALITY (FALSE DISCOVERY RATE < 20%) THAT REPLICATED IN THE ECLIPSE COHORT (P < 0.05). NONE OF THESE MARKS WERE ASSOCIATED WITH LONGITUDINAL LUNG FUNCTION DECLINE IN SURVIVORS, SMOKING HISTORY, OR CURRENT SMOKING STATUS. HOWEVER, DIFFERENTIAL METHYLATION OF TWO REPLICATED PIK3CD (PHOSPHATIDYLINOSITOL-4,5-BISPHOSPHATE 3-KINASE CATALYTIC SUBUNIT DELTA) SITES WERE ASSOCIATED WITH LUNG FUNCTION AT ENROLLMENT (P < 0.05). WE ALSO OBSERVED ASSOCIATIONS BETWEEN DNA METHYLATION AND GENE EXPRESSION FOR THE PIK3CD SITES.CONCLUSIONS: THIS STUDY IS THE FIRST TO IDENTIFY VARIABLE DNA METHYLATION ASSOCIATED WITH ALL-CAUSE MORTALITY IN SMOKERS WITH AND WITHOUT COPD. EVALUATING PREDICTIVE EPIGENOMIC MARKS OF SMOKERS IN PERIPHERAL BLOOD MAY ALLOW FOR TARGETED RISK STRATIFICATION AND AID IN DELIVERY OF FUTURE TAILORED THERAPEUTIC INTERVENTIONS. 2020 11 2147 37 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 12 5957 31 TELOMERE LENGTH AND EPIGENETIC AGE ACCELERATION IN ADOLESCENTS WITH ANXIETY DISORDERS. EVIDENCE ON THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN GENETICS AND MENTAL HEALTH ARE FLOURISHING. HOWEVER, FEW STUDIES ARE EVALUATING EARLY BIOMARKERS THAT MIGHT LINK GENES, ENVIRONMENT, AND PSYCHOPATHOLOGY. WE AIMED TO STUDY TELOMERE LENGTH (TL) AND EPIGENETIC AGE ACCELERATION (AA) IN A COHORT OF ADOLESCENTS WITH AND WITHOUT ANXIETY DISORDERS (N = 234). WE EVALUATED A REPRESENTATIVE SUBSAMPLE OF PARTICIPANTS AT BASELINE AND AFTER 5 YEARS (N = 76) AND CATEGORIZED THEM ACCORDING TO THEIR ANXIETY DISORDER DIAGNOSIS AT BOTH TIME POINTS: (1) CONTROL GROUP (NO ANXIETY DISORDER, N = 18), (2) VARIABLE GROUP (ANXIETY DISORDER IN ONE EVALUATION, N = 38), AND (3) PERSISTENT GROUP (ANXIETY DISORDER AT BOTH TIME POINTS, N = 20). WE ASSESSED RELATIVE MEAN TL BY REAL-TIME QUANTITATIVE PCR AND DNA METHYLATION BY INFINIUM HUMANMETHYLATION450 BEADCHIP. WE CALCULATED AA USING THE HORVATH AGE ESTIMATION ALGORITHM AND ANALYZED DIFFERENCES AMONG GROUPS USING GENERALIZED LINEAR MIXED MODELS. THE PERSISTENT GROUP OF ANXIETY DISORDER DID NOT CHANGE TL OVER TIME (P = 0.495). THE VARIABLE GROUP HAD HIGHER BASELINE TL (P = 0.003) BUT NO ACCELERATED TL EROSION IN COMPARISON TO THE NON-ANXIETY CONTROL GROUP (P = 0.053). FURTHERMORE, THERE WERE NO DIFFERENCES IN AA AMONG GROUPS OVER TIME. OUR FINDINGS SUGGEST THAT ADOLESCENTS WITH CHRONIC ANXIETY DID NOT CHANGE TELOMERE LENGTH OVER TIME, WHICH COULD BE RELATED TO A DELAY IN NEURONAL DEVELOPMENT IN THIS PERIOD OF LIFE. 2021 13 2485 31 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 14 667 42 BLOOD-BASED EPIGENOME-WIDE ANALYSES OF 19 COMMON DISEASE STATES: A LONGITUDINAL, POPULATION-BASED LINKED COHORT STUDY OF 18,413 SCOTTISH INDIVIDUALS. BACKGROUND: DNA METHYLATION IS A DYNAMIC EPIGENETIC MECHANISM THAT OCCURS AT CYTOSINE-PHOSPHATE-GUANINE DINUCLEOTIDE (CPG) SITES. EPIGENOME-WIDE ASSOCIATION STUDIES (EWAS) INVESTIGATE THE STRENGTH OF ASSOCIATION BETWEEN METHYLATION AT INDIVIDUAL CPG SITES AND HEALTH OUTCOMES. ALTHOUGH BLOOD METHYLATION MAY ACT AS A PERIPHERAL MARKER OF COMMON DISEASE STATES, PREVIOUS EWAS HAVE TYPICALLY FOCUSED ONLY ON INDIVIDUAL CONDITIONS AND HAVE HAD LIMITED POWER TO DISCOVER DISEASE-ASSOCIATED LOCI. THIS STUDY EXAMINED THE ASSOCIATION OF BLOOD DNA METHYLATION WITH THE PREVALENCE OF 14 DISEASE STATES AND THE INCIDENCE OF 19 DISEASE STATES IN A SINGLE POPULATION OF OVER 18,000 SCOTTISH INDIVIDUALS. METHODS AND FINDINGS: DNA METHYLATION WAS ASSAYED AT 752,722 CPG SITES IN WHOLE-BLOOD SAMPLES FROM 18,413 VOLUNTEERS IN THE FAMILY-STRUCTURED, POPULATION-BASED COHORT STUDY GENERATION SCOTLAND (AGE RANGE 18 TO 99 YEARS). EWAS TESTED FOR CROSS-SECTIONAL ASSOCIATIONS BETWEEN BASELINE CPG METHYLATION AND 14 PREVALENT DISEASE STATES, AND FOR LONGITUDINAL ASSOCIATIONS BETWEEN BASELINE CPG METHYLATION AND 19 INCIDENT DISEASE STATES. PREVALENT CASES WERE SELF-REPORTED ON HEALTH QUESTIONNAIRES AT THE BASELINE. INCIDENT CASES WERE IDENTIFIED USING LINKAGE TO SCOTTISH PRIMARY (READ 2) AND SECONDARY (ICD-10) CARE RECORDS, AND THE CENSORING DATE WAS SET TO OCTOBER 2020. THE MEAN TIME-TO-DIAGNOSIS RANGED FROM 5.0 YEARS (FOR CHRONIC PAIN) TO 11.7 YEARS (FOR CORONAVIRUS DISEASE 2019 (COVID-19) HOSPITALISATION). THE 19 DISEASE STATES CONSIDERED IN THIS STUDY WERE SELECTED IF THEY WERE PRESENT ON THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANISATION'S 10 LEADING CAUSES OF DEATH AND DISEASE BURDEN OR INCLUDED IN BASELINE SELF-REPORT QUESTIONNAIRES. EWAS MODELS WERE ADJUSTED FOR AGE AT METHYLATION TYPING, SEX, ESTIMATED WHITE BLOOD CELL COMPOSITION, POPULATION STRUCTURE, AND 5 COMMON LIFESTYLE RISK FACTORS. A STRUCTURED LITERATURE REVIEW WAS ALSO CONDUCTED TO IDENTIFY EXISTING EWAS FOR ALL 19 DISEASE STATES TESTED. THE MEDLINE, EMBASE, WEB OF SCIENCE, AND PREPRINT SERVERS WERE SEARCHED TO RETRIEVE RELEVANT ARTICLES INDEXED AS OF MARCH 27, 2023. FIFTY-FOUR OF APPROXIMATELY 2,000 INDEXED ARTICLES MET OUR INCLUSION CRITERIA: ASSAYED BLOOD-BASED DNA METHYLATION, HAD >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 5312 42 PSYCHOLOGICAL FACTORS AND DNA METHYLATION OF GENES RELATED TO IMMUNE/INFLAMMATORY SYSTEM MARKERS: THE VA NORMATIVE AGING STUDY. OBJECTIVES: ALTHOUGH PSYCHOLOGICAL FACTORS HAVE BEEN ASSOCIATED WITH CHRONIC DISEASES SUCH AS CORONARY HEART DISEASE (CHD), THE UNDERLYING PATHWAYS FOR THESE ASSOCIATIONS HAVE YET TO BE ELUCIDATED. DNA METHYLATION HAS BEEN POSITED AS A MECHANISM LINKING PSYCHOLOGICAL FACTORS TO CHD RISK. IN A COHORT OF COMMUNITY-DWELLING ELDERLY MEN, WE EXPLORED THE ASSOCIATIONS BETWEEN POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE PSYCHOLOGICAL FACTORS WITH DNA METHYLATION IN PROMOTER REGIONS OF MULTIPLE GENES INVOLVED IN IMMUNE/INFLAMMATORY PROCESSES RELATED TO ATHEROSCLEROSIS. DESIGN: PROSPECTIVE COHORT STUDY. SETTING: GREATER BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS AREA. PARTICIPANTS: SAMPLES OF 538 TO 669 MEN PARTICIPATING IN THE NORMATIVE AGING STUDY COHORT WITH PSYCHOLOGICAL MEASURES AND DNA METHYLATION MEASURES, COLLECTED ON 1-4 VISITS BETWEEN 1999 AND 2006 (MEAN AGE=72.7 YEARS AT FIRST VISIT). OUTCOME MEASURES: WE EXAMINED ANXIETY, DEPRESSION, HOSTILITY AND LIFE SATISFACTION AS PREDICTORS OF LEUCOCYTE GENE-SPECIFIC DNA METHYLATION. WE ESTIMATED REPEATED MEASURES LINEAR MIXED MODELS, CONTROLLING FOR AGE, SMOKING, EDUCATION, HISTORY OF HEART DISEASE, STROKE OR DIABETES, % LYMPHOCYTES, % MONOCYTES AND PLASMA FOLATE. RESULTS: PSYCHOLOGICAL DISTRESS MEASURED BY ANXIETY, DEPRESSION AND HOSTILITY WAS POSITIVELY ASSOCIATED, AND HAPPINESS AND LIFE SATISFACTION WERE INVERSELY ASSOCIATED WITH AVERAGE INTERCELLULAR ADHESION MOLECULE-1 (ICAM-1) AND COAGULATION FACTOR III (F3) PROMOTER METHYLATION LEVELS. THERE WAS SOME EVIDENCE THAT HOSTILITY WAS POSITIVELY ASSOCIATED WITH TOLL-LIKE RECEPTOR 2 (TLR-2) PROMOTER METHYLATION, AND THAT LIFE SATISFACTION WAS INVERSELY ASSOCIATED WITH TLR-2 AND INDUCIBLE NITRIC OXIDE SYNTHASE (INOS) PROMOTER METHYLATION. WE OBSERVED LESS CONSISTENT AND SIGNIFICANT ASSOCIATIONS BETWEEN PSYCHOLOGICAL FACTORS AND AVERAGE METHYLATION FOR PROMOTERS OF THE GENES FOR GLUCOCORTICOID RECEPTOR (NR3C1), INTERFERON-GAMMA (IFN-GAMMA) AND INTERLEUKIN 6 (IL-6). CONCLUSIONS: THESE FINDINGS SUGGEST THAT POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE PSYCHOLOGICAL FACTORS AFFECT DNA METHYLATION OF SELECTED GENES INVOLVED IN CHRONIC IMMUNE/INFLAMMATORY PROCESSES AND INFLAMMATION-RELATED ENDOTHELIAL DYSFUNCTION. SUCH EPIGENETIC CHANGES MAY REPRESENT BIOLOGICAL PATHWAYS THAT MEDIATE THE EFFECTS OF PSYCHOLOGICAL FACTORS ON CHD. 2016 16 5884 35 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 17 6761 35 X CHROMOSOME-WIDE ANALYSIS IDENTIFIES DNA METHYLATION SITES INFLUENCED BY CIGARETTE SMOKING. BACKGROUND: TOBACCO SMOKING IS A MAJOR CAUSE OF CHRONIC DISEASE WORLDWIDE. SMOKING MAY INDUCE CELLULAR AND MOLECULAR CHANGES INCLUDING EPIGENETIC MODIFICATION, WITH BOTH SHORT-TERM AND LONG-TERM MODIFICATION PATTERNS THAT MAY CONTRIBUTE TO PHENOTYPIC EXPRESSION OF DISEASES. RECENT EPIGENOME-WIDE ASSOCIATION STUDIES (EWAS) HAVE IDENTIFIED DOZENS OF SMOKING-RELATED DNA METHYLATION (DNAM) SITES. HOWEVER, THE X CHROMOSOMAL DNAM SITES HAVE BEEN LARGELY OVERLOOKED DUE TO A LACK OF AN ANALYTICAL FRAMEWORK FOR DEALING WITH THE SEX-DIMORPHIC DISTRIBUTION. TO IDENTIFY NOVEL SMOKING-RELATED DNAM SITES ON THE X CHROMOSOME, WE EXAMINED THE MODALITY OF EACH X CHROMOSOMAL DNAM SITE AND CONDUCTED A SEX-SPECIFIC ASSOCIATION STUDY OF CIGARETTE SMOKING. RESULTS: WE USED A DISCOVERY SAMPLE OF 139 MIDDLE-AGE TWINS, AND THREE REPLICATION SAMPLES OF 78 TWINS, 464 AND 333 UNRELATED INDIVIDUALS INCLUDING 47, 17, 22, AND 89 CURRENT SMOKERS, RESPECTIVELY. AFTER CORRECTION FOR MULTIPLE TESTING, THE TOP SMOKING-RELATED DNAM SITES IN BCOR AND TSC22D3 WERE SIGNIFICANTLY HYPERMETHYLATED AND HYPOMETHYLATED, RESPECTIVELY, AMONG CURRENT SMOKERS. THESE SMOKING-ASSOCIATED SITES WERE REPLICATED WITH META-ANALYSIS P-VALUES OF 9.17 X 10(-12) AND 1.61 X 10(-9). FOR BOTH SITES, THE SMOKING EFFECTS ON METHYLATION LEVELS WERE LARGER IN MALES THAN THAT IN FEMALES. CONCLUSIONS: OUR FINDINGS HIGHLIGHT THE IMPORTANCE OF INVESTIGATING X CHROMOSOME METHYLATION PATTERNS AND THEIR ASSOCIATIONS WITH ENVIRONMENTAL EXPOSURES AND DISEASE PHENOTYPES AND DEMONSTRATE A ROBUST STATISTICAL METHODOLOGY FOR SUCH STUDY. EXISTING EWAS OF HUMAN DISEASES SHOULD INCORPORATE THE X CHROMOSOMAL SITES TO COMPLETE A COMPREHENSIVE EPIGENOME-WIDE SCAN. 2016 18 2734 36 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 19 175 28 ACCELERATED AGING WITH HIV BEGINS AT THE TIME OF INITIAL HIV INFECTION. LIVING WITH HIV INFECTION IS ASSOCIATED WITH EARLY ONSET OF AGING-RELATED CHRONIC CONDITIONS, SOMETIMES DESCRIBED AS ACCELERATED AGING. EPIGENETIC DNA METHYLATION PATTERNS CAN EVALUATE ACCELERATION OF BIOLOGICAL AGE RELATIVE TO CHRONOLOGICAL AGE. THE IMPACT OF INITIAL HIV INFECTION ON FIVE EPIGENETIC MEASURES OF AGING WAS EXAMINED BEFORE AND APPROXIMATELY 3 YEARS AFTER HIV INFECTION IN THE SAME INDIVIDUALS (N=102). SIGNIFICANT EPIGENETIC AGE ACCELERATION (MEDIAN 1.9-4.8 YEARS) AND ESTIMATED TELOMERE LENGTH SHORTENING (ALL P