1 4786 160 NUTRITION AND HEALTH DURING MID-LIFE: SEARCHING FOR SOLUTIONS AND MEETING CHALLENGES FOR THE AGING POPULATION. INTERACTIONS BETWEEN GENETIC (GENOME) AND ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS (EPIGENOME) OPERATE DURING A PERSON'S ENTIRE LIFESPAN. THE AGING PROCESS IS ASSOCIATED WITH SEVERAL CELLULAR AND ORGANIC FUNCTIONAL ALTERATIONS THAT, AT THE END, CAUSE MULTI-ORGANIC CELL FAILURE. EPIGENETIC MECHANISMS OF AGING ARE MODIFIABLE BY APPROPRIATE PREVENTIVE ACTIONS MEDIATED BY SIRTUINS, CALORIC INPUT, DIET COMPONENTS, ADIPOSE TISSUE-RELATED INFLAMMATORY REACTIONS, AND PHYSICAL ACTIVITY. THE MEDITERRANEAN LIFESTYLE HAS BEEN FOR MANY MILLENNIA A DAILY HABIT FOR PEOPLE IN WESTERN CIVILIZATIONS LIVING AROUND THE MEDITERRANEAN SEA WHO WORKED INTENSIVELY AND SURVIVED WITH VERY FEW SEASONAL FOODS. A HIGH ADHERENCE TO THE TRADITIONAL MEDITERRANEAN DIET IS ASSOCIATED WITH LOW MORTALITY (HIGHER LONGEVITY) AND REDUCED RISK OF DEVELOPING CHRONIC DISEASES, INCLUDING CANCER, THE METABOLIC SYNDROME, DEPRESSION AND CARDIOVASCULAR AND NEURODEGENERATIVE DISEASES. REPORTS INDICATE THAT SOME DIETARY COMPONENTS, SUCH AS OLIVE OIL, ANTIOXIDANTS, OMEGA-3 AND -6 POLYUNSATURATED ACIDS, POLYPHENOLS AND FLAVONOIDS, MEDIATE BENEFICIAL ANTI-AGING EFFECTS (ANTI-CHRONIC DISEASES AND INCREASED LONGEVITY). EQUALLY, PHYSICAL ACTIVITY DISPLAYS A POSITIVE EFFECT, PRODUCING CALORIC CONSUMPTION AND REGULATION OF ADIPOSE AND PANCREATIC FUNCTION. THE PREDICTIVE STRENGTH OF SOME FOOD PATTERNS MAY BE A WAY OF DEVELOPING RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FOOD AND HEALTH POLICIES. THIS PAPER WILL DISCUSS SEVERAL WAYS OF IMPROVING HEALTH DURING MID-LIFE, FOCUSING ON CERTAIN GROUPS OF FUNCTIONAL FOODS AND HEALTHY HABITS WHICH MAY REDUCE OR PREVENT AGE-RELATED CHRONIC DISEASES. 2013 2 6169 35 THE GUT MICROBIOTA AND HEALTHY AGING: A MINI-REVIEW. THE GUT MICROBIOTA SHOWS A WIDE INTER-INDIVIDUAL VARIATION, BUT ITS WITHIN-INDIVIDUAL VARIATION IS RELATIVELY STABLE OVER TIME. A FUNCTIONAL CORE MICROBIOME, PROVIDED BY ABUNDANT BACTERIAL TAXA, SEEMS TO BE COMMON TO VARIOUS HUMAN HOSTS REGARDLESS OF THEIR GENDER, GEOGRAPHIC LOCATION, AND AGE. WITH ADVANCING CHRONOLOGICAL AGE, THE GUT MICROBIOTA BECOMES MORE DIVERSE AND VARIABLE. HOWEVER, WHEN MEASURES OF BIOLOGICAL AGE ARE USED WITH ADJUSTMENT FOR CHRONOLOGICAL AGE, OVERALL RICHNESS DECREASES, WHILE A CERTAIN GROUP OF BACTERIA ASSOCIATED WITH FRAILTY INCREASES. THIS HIGHLIGHTS THE IMPORTANCE OF CONSIDERING BIOLOGICAL OR FUNCTIONAL MEASURES OF AGING. STUDIES USING MODEL ORGANISMS INDICATE THAT AGE-RELATED GUT DYSBIOSIS MAY CONTRIBUTE TO UNHEALTHY AGING AND REDUCED LONGEVITY. THE GUT MICROBIOME DEPENDS ON THE HOST NUTRIENT SIGNALING PATHWAYS FOR ITS BENEFICIAL EFFECTS ON HOST HEALTH AND LIFESPAN, AND GUT DYSBIOSIS DISRUPTING THE INTERDEPENDENCE MAY DIMINISH THE BENEFICIAL EFFECTS OR EVEN HAVE REVERSE EFFECTS. GUT DYSBIOSIS CAN TRIGGER THE INNATE IMMUNE RESPONSE AND CHRONIC LOW-GRADE INFLAMMATION, LEADING TO MANY AGE-RELATED DEGENERATIVE PATHOLOGIES AND UNHEALTHY AGING. THE GUT MICROBIOTA COMMUNICATES WITH THE HOST THROUGH VARIOUS BIOMOLECULES, NUTRIENT SIGNALING-INDEPENDENT PATHWAYS, AND EPIGENETIC MECHANISMS. DISTURBANCE OF THESE COMMUNICATIONS BY AGE-RELATED GUT DYSBIOSIS CAN AFFECT THE HOST HEALTH AND LIFESPAN. THIS MAY EXPLAIN THE IMPACT OF THE GUT MICROBIOME ON HEALTH AND AGING. 2018 3 560 35 BACK TO THE FUTURE: EPIGENETIC CLOCK PLASTICITY TOWARDS HEALTHY AGING. AGING IS THE MOST IMPORTANT RISK FACTOR FOR MAJOR HUMAN LIFESTYLE DISEASES, INCLUDING CANCER, NEUROLOGICAL AND CARDIOMETABOLIC DISORDERS. DUE TO THE COMPLEX INTERPLAY BETWEEN GENETICS, LIFESTYLE AND ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS, SOME INDIVIDUALS SEEM TO AGE FASTER THAN OTHERS, WHEREAS CENTENARIANS SEEM TO HAVE A SLOWER AGING PROCESS. THEREFORE, A BIOCHEMICAL BIOMARKER REFLECTING THE RELATIVE BIOLOGICAL AGE WOULD BE HELPFUL TO PREDICT AN INDIVIDUAL'S HEALTH STATUS AND AGING DISEASE RISK. ALTHOUGH IT IS ALREADY KNOWN FOR YEARS THAT CUMULATIVE EPIGENETIC CHANGES OCCUR UPON AGING, DNA METHYLATION PATTERNS WERE ONLY RECENTLY USED TO CONSTRUCT AN EPIGENETIC CLOCK PREDICTOR FOR BIOLOGICAL AGE, WHICH IS A MEASURE OF HOW WELL YOUR BODY FUNCTIONS COMPARED TO YOUR CHRONOLOGICAL AGE. MOREOVER, THE EPIGENETIC DNA METHYLATION CLOCK SIGNATURE IS INCREASINGLY APPLIED AS A BIOMARKER TO ESTIMATE AGING DISEASE SUSCEPTIBILITY AND MORTALITY RISK. FINALLY, THE EPIGENETIC CLOCK SIGNATURE COULD BE USED AS A LIFESTYLE MANAGEMENT TOOL TO MONITOR HEALTHY AGING, TO EVALUATE PREVENTIVE INTERVENTIONS AGAINST CHRONIC AGING DISORDERS AND TO EXTEND HEALTHY LIFESPAN. DISSECTING THE MECHANISM OF THE EPIGENETIC AGING CLOCK WILL YIELD VALUABLE INSIGHTS INTO THE AGING PROCESS AND HOW IT CAN BE MANIPULATED TO IMPROVE HEALTH SPAN. 2018 4 1769 29 EARLY-LIFE NUTRITIONAL PROGRAMMING OF LONGEVITY. AVAILABLE DATA FROM BOTH EXPERIMENTAL AND EPIDEMIOLOGICAL STUDIES SUGGEST THAT INADEQUATE DIET IN EARLY LIFE CAN PERMANENTLY CHANGE THE STRUCTURE AND FUNCTION OF SPECIFIC ORGANS OR HOMOEOSTATIC PATHWAYS, THEREBY 'PROGRAMMING' THE INDIVIDUAL'S HEALTH STATUS AND LONGEVITY. SUFFICIENT EVIDENCE HAS ACCUMULATED SHOWING SIGNIFICANT IMPACT OF EPIGENETIC REGULATION MECHANISMS IN NUTRITIONAL PROGRAMMING PHENOMENON. THE ESSENTIAL ROLE OF EARLY-LIFE DIET IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF AGING-RELATED CHRONIC DISEASES IS WELL ESTABLISHED AND DESCRIBED IN MANY SCIENTIFIC PUBLICATIONS. HOWEVER, THE PROGRAMMING EFFECTS ON LIFESPAN HAVE NOT BEEN EXTENSIVELY REVIEWED SYSTEMATICALLY. THE AIM OF THE REVIEW IS TO PROVIDE A SUMMARY OF RESEARCH FINDINGS AND THEORETICAL EXPLANATIONS THAT INDICATE THAT LONGEVITY CAN BE INFLUENCED BY EARLY NUTRITION. 2014 5 285 37 AGING AND AGING-RELATED DISEASES: FROM MOLECULAR MECHANISMS TO INTERVENTIONS AND TREATMENTS. AGING IS A GRADUAL AND IRREVERSIBLE PATHOPHYSIOLOGICAL PROCESS. IT PRESENTS WITH DECLINES IN TISSUE AND CELL FUNCTIONS AND SIGNIFICANT INCREASES IN THE RISKS OF VARIOUS AGING-RELATED DISEASES, INCLUDING NEURODEGENERATIVE DISEASES, CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASES, METABOLIC DISEASES, MUSCULOSKELETAL DISEASES, AND IMMUNE SYSTEM DISEASES. ALTHOUGH THE DEVELOPMENT OF MODERN MEDICINE HAS PROMOTED HUMAN HEALTH AND GREATLY EXTENDED LIFE EXPECTANCY, WITH THE AGING OF SOCIETY, A VARIETY OF CHRONIC DISEASES HAVE GRADUALLY BECOME THE MOST IMPORTANT CAUSES OF DISABILITY AND DEATH IN ELDERLY INDIVIDUALS. CURRENT RESEARCH ON AGING FOCUSES ON ELUCIDATING HOW VARIOUS ENDOGENOUS AND EXOGENOUS STRESSES (SUCH AS GENOMIC INSTABILITY, TELOMERE DYSFUNCTION, EPIGENETIC ALTERATIONS, LOSS OF PROTEOSTASIS, COMPROMISE OF AUTOPHAGY, MITOCHONDRIAL DYSFUNCTION, CELLULAR SENESCENCE, STEM CELL EXHAUSTION, ALTERED INTERCELLULAR COMMUNICATION, DEREGULATED NUTRIENT SENSING) PARTICIPATE IN THE REGULATION OF AGING. FURTHERMORE, THOROUGH RESEARCH ON THE PATHOGENESIS OF AGING TO IDENTIFY INTERVENTIONS THAT PROMOTE HEALTH AND LONGEVITY (SUCH AS CALORIC RESTRICTION, MICROBIOTA TRANSPLANTATION, AND NUTRITIONAL INTERVENTION) AND CLINICAL TREATMENT METHODS FOR AGING-RELATED DISEASES (DEPLETION OF SENESCENT CELLS, STEM CELL THERAPY, ANTIOXIDATIVE AND ANTI-INFLAMMATORY TREATMENTS, AND HORMONE REPLACEMENT THERAPY) COULD DECREASE THE INCIDENCE AND DEVELOPMENT OF AGING-RELATED DISEASES AND IN TURN PROMOTE HEALTHY AGING AND LONGEVITY. 2022 6 2485 30 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 7 5948 22 TARGETING THE MOLECULAR & CELLULAR PILLARS OF HUMAN AGING WITH EXERCISE. BIOLOGICAL AGING IS THE MAIN DRIVER OF AGE-ASSOCIATED CHRONIC DISEASES. IN 2014, THE UNITED STATES NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF AGING (NIA) SPONSORED A MEETING BETWEEN SEVERAL INVESTIGATORS IN THE FIELD OF AGING BIOLOGY, WHO IDENTIFIED SEVEN BIOLOGICAL PILLARS OF AGING AND A CONSENSUS REVIEW, "GEROSCIENCE: LINKING AGING TO CHRONIC DISEASE," WAS PUBLISHED. THE PILLARS OF AGING DEMONSTRATED THE CONSERVATION OF AGING PATHWAYS IN DIVERSE MODEL ORGANISMS AND THUS REPRESENT A USEFUL FRAMEWORK WITH WHICH TO STUDY HUMAN AGING. IN THIS PRESENT REVIEW, WE REVISIT THE SEVEN PILLARS OF AGING FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF EXERCISE AND DISCUSS HOW REGULAR PHYSICAL EXERCISE CAN MODULATE THESE PILLARS TO STAVE OFF AGE-RELATED CHRONIC DISEASES AND MAINTAIN FUNCTIONAL CAPACITY. 2023 8 2916 32 GENE VARIANTS AS DETERMINANTS OF LONGEVITY: FOCUS ON THE INFLAMMATORY FACTORS. HUMAN LONGEVITY IS AN EXTREMELY COMPLEX TRAIT WITH VARIOUS GENETIC, EPIGENETIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS ACTING UPON THE LONGEVITY PHENOTYPE. IT IS NOW BECOMING EVIDENT THAT WHILST THE GENETIC DIFFERENCES CONTRIBUTE ONLY MODESTLY TO LIFE EXPECTANCY BEFORE THE AGE OF 60 YEARS, THEIR IMPACT ON SURVIVAL BECOMES MORE PROMINENT AT THE EXTREME AGES. SEVERAL LONGEVITY GENE CANDIDATES HAVE EMERGED DURING THE PAST DECADE; THE MAJORITY OF THEM ARE RELATED EITHER TO INFLAMMATORY FUNCTIONS, STRESS RESPONSE OR TO LIPID AND GLUCOSE METABOLISM. THE VARIANTS OF INFLAMMATORY AND IMMUNE RESPONSE GENES ARE OF SPECIAL INTEREST SINCE ADVANCING AGES IS ACCOMPANIED BY A DECLINE IN SEVERAL IMMUNE FUNCTIONS--A PHENOMENON CALLED IMMUNOSENESCENCE. PARADOXICALLY, AGEING IS ALSO CHARACTERISED BY CHRONIC LOW-GRADE INFLAMMATION TERMED "INFLAMMAGING", WHICH MANIFESTS AS A TWO- TO FOURFOLD INCREASE IN THE PRODUCTION OF PROINFLAMMATORY CYTOKINES AND ACUTE PHASE PROTEINS. THESE CONTRASTING PHENOMENA PROVIDE A FUNCTIONAL RATIONALE OF HOW THE GENETIC DIFFERENCES IN INFLAMMATORY MEDIATORS MAY MODIFY THE LIFE SPAN OF THE ELDERLY. BESIDES DESCRIBING THE PRE-EXISTING INFLAMMATORY AND IMMUNE-RELATED LONGEVITY GENE VARIANTS, IN THIS REVIEW, WE ALSO EXPLAIN SOME OF THE THEORETICAL AND PRACTICAL CHALLENGES THAT GENETIC LONGEVITY STUDIES OFTEN ENCOUNTER. 2010 9 5747 28 SOCIAL ADVERSITY AND EPIGENETIC AGING: A MULTI-COHORT STUDY ON SOCIOECONOMIC DIFFERENCES IN PERIPHERAL BLOOD DNA METHYLATION. LOW SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS (SES) IS ASSOCIATED WITH EARLIER ONSET OF AGE-RELATED CHRONIC CONDITIONS AND REDUCED LIFE-EXPECTANCY, BUT THE UNDERLYING BIOMOLECULAR MECHANISMS REMAIN UNCLEAR. EVIDENCE OF DNA-METHYLATION DIFFERENCES BY SES SUGGESTS A POSSIBLE ASSOCIATION OF SES WITH EPIGENETIC AGE ACCELERATION (AA). WE INVESTIGATED THE ASSOCIATION OF SES WITH AA IN MORE THAN 5,000 INDIVIDUALS BELONGING TO THREE INDEPENDENT PROSPECTIVE COHORTS FROM ITALY, AUSTRALIA, AND IRELAND. LOW SES WAS ASSOCIATED WITH GREATER AA (BETA = 0.99 YEARS; 95% CI 0.39,1.59; P = 0.002; COMPARING EXTREME CATEGORIES). THE RESULTS WERE CONSISTENT ACROSS DIFFERENT SES INDICATORS. THE ASSOCIATIONS WERE ONLY PARTIALLY MODULATED BY THE UNHEALTHY LIFESTYLE HABITS OF INDIVIDUALS WITH LOWER SES. INDIVIDUALS WHO EXPERIENCED LIFE-COURSE SES IMPROVEMENT HAD INTERMEDIATE AA COMPARED TO EXTREME SES CATEGORIES, SUGGESTING REVERSIBILITY OF THE EFFECT AND SUPPORTING THE RELATIVE IMPORTANCE OF THE EARLY CHILDHOOD SOCIAL ENVIRONMENT. SOCIOECONOMIC ADVERSITY IS ASSOCIATED WITH ACCELERATED EPIGENETIC AGING, IMPLICATING BIOMOLECULAR MECHANISMS THAT MAY LINK SES TO AGE-RELATED DISEASES AND LONGEVITY. 2017 10 1780 36 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 11 3818 38 INTRINSIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL BASIS OF AGING: A NARRATIVE REVIEW. LONGEVITY HAS BEEN A TOPIC OF INTEREST SINCE THE BEGINNINGS OF HUMANITY, YET ITS AETIOLOGY AND PRECISE MECHANISMS REMAIN TO BE ELUCIDATED. AGING IS CURRENTLY VIEWED AS A PHYSIOLOGICAL PHENOMENON CHARACTERIZED BY THE GRADUAL DEGENERATION OF ORGANIC PHYSIOLOGY AND MORPHOLOGY DUE TO THE PASSAGE OF TIME WHERE BOTH EXTERNAL AND INTERNAL STIMULI INTERVENE. THE INFLUENCE OF INTRINSIC FACTORS, SUCH AS PROGRESSIVE TELOMERE SHORTENING, GENOME INSTABILITY DUE TO MUTATION BUILDUP, THE DIRECT OR INDIRECT ACTIONS OF AGE-RELATED GENES, AND MARKED CHANGES IN EPIGENETIC, METABOLIC, AND MITOCHONDRIAL PATTERNS CONSTITUTE A BIG PART OF ITS UNDERLYING ENDOGENOUS MECHANISMS. ON THE OTHER HAND, SEVERAL PSYCHOSOCIAL AND DEMOGRAPHIC FACTORS, SUCH AS DIET, PHYSICAL ACTIVITY, SMOKING, AND DRINKING HABITS, MAY HAVE AN EVEN MORE SIGNIFICANT IMPACT ON SHAPING THE AGING PROCESS. CONSEQUENTIALLY, IMPLEMENTING DIETARY AND EXERCISE PATTERNS HAS BEEN PROPOSED AS THE MOST VIABLE ALTERNATIVE STRATEGY FOR ATTENUATING THE MOST TYPICAL DEGENERATIVE AGING CHANGES, THUS INCREASING THE LIKELIHOOD OF PROLONGING LIFESPAN AND ACHIEVING SUCCESSFUL AGING. 2023 12 739 32 CANCER TREATMENT-INDUCED ACCELERATED AGING IN CANCER SURVIVORS: BIOLOGY AND ASSESSMENT. RAPID IMPROVEMENTS IN CANCER SURVIVAL LED TO THE REALIZATION THAT MANY MODALITIES USED TO TREAT OR CONTROL CANCER MAY CAUSE ACCELERATED AGING IN CANCER SURVIVORS. CLINICALLY, "ACCELERATED AGING" PHENOTYPES IN CANCER SURVIVORS INCLUDE SECONDARY CANCERS, FRAILTY, CHRONIC ORGAN DYSFUNCTION, AND COGNITIVE IMPAIRMENT, ALL OF WHICH CAN IMPACT LONG-TERM HEALTH AND QUALITY OF LIFE IN CANCER SURVIVORS. THE TREATMENT-INDUCED ACCELERATED AGING IN CANCER SURVIVORS COULD BE EXPLAINED BY TELOMERE ATTRITION, CELLULAR SENESCENCE, STEM CELL EXHAUSTION, DNA DAMAGE, AND EPIGENETIC ALTERATIONS. SEVERAL AGING CLOCKS AND BIOMARKERS OF AGING HAVE BEEN PROPOSED TO BE POTENTIALLY USEFUL IN ESTIMATING BIOLOGICAL AGE, WHICH CAN PROVIDE SPECIFIC INFORMATION ABOUT HOW OLD AN INDIVIDUAL IS BIOLOGICALLY INDEPENDENT OF CHRONOLOGICAL AGE. MEASURING BIOLOGICAL AGE IN CANCER SURVIVORS MAY BE IMPORTANT FOR TWO REASONS. FIRST, IT CAN BETTER PREDICT THE RISK OF CANCER TREATMENT-RELATED COMORBIDITIES THAN CHRONOLOGICAL AGE. SECOND, BIOLOGICAL AGE MAY PROVIDE ADDITIONAL VALUE IN EVALUATING THE EFFECTS OF TREATMENTS AND PERSONALIZING CANCER THERAPIES TO MAXIMIZE EFFICACY OF TREATMENT. A DEEPER UNDERSTANDING OF TREATMENT-INDUCED ACCELERATED AGING IN INDIVIDUALS WITH CANCER MAY LEAD TO NOVEL STRATEGIES THAT REDUCE THE ACCELERATED AGING AND IMPROVE THE QUALITY OF LIFE IN CANCER SURVIVORS. 2021 13 6188 31 THE IMPACT OF INSOMNIA ON FRAILTY AND THE HALLMARKS OF AGING. THROUGHOUT THE COURSE OF LIFE, THERE ARE AGE-RELATED CHANGES IN SLEEP. DESPITE THESE NORMAL CHANGES, THERE IS A HIGH PERCENTAGE OF OLDER ADULTS THAT REPORT SLEEP DISSATISFACTION WITH A HIGH PERVASIVENESS OF CHRONIC INSOMNIA, THE MOST COMMON SLEEP DISORDER WORLDWIDE, WITH ITS PREVALENCE BEING EXPECTED TO CONTINUOUSLY INCREASE DUE TO THE GROWING RATES OF AGING AND OBESITY. THIS CAN HAVE DIFFERENT ADVERSE HEALTH OUTCOMES, ESPECIALLY BY PROMOTING BOTH PHYSICAL AND COGNITIVE DECLINE, WHICH ULTIMATELY MAY AGGRAVATE FRAILTY IN OLDER ADULTS. MOREOVER, AGE-RELATED FRAILTY AND SLEEP DYSFUNCTION MAY HAVE A COMMON MECHANISM RELATED TO THE HALLMARKS OF CELLULAR AGING. CELLULAR AGING WAS CATEGORIZED INTO NINE HALLMARKS, SUCH AS DNA DAMAGE, TELOMERE ATTRITION AND EPIGENETIC CHANGES. IN THE CONTEXT OF GERIATRIC AND CHRONIC INSOMNIA RESEARCH, THIS REVIEW AIMS AT DISCUSSING THE CURRENT EVIDENCE FROM BOTH ANIMAL MODELS AND HUMAN COHORTS ADDRESSING THE LINK BETWEEN CHRONIC INSOMNIA, THE HALLMARKS OF AGING AND THEIR IMPACT ON FRAILTY. MOREOVER, THE MOST RECENT RESEARCH ABOUT THE PUTATIVE EFFECT OF INSOMNIA THERAPEUTIC APPROACHES ON HALLMARKS OF AGING WILL BE ALSO HIGHLIGHTED. 2023 14 5185 40 PREMATURE PHYSIOLOGIC AGING AS A PARADIGM FOR UNDERSTANDING INCREASED RISK OF ADVERSE HEALTH ACROSS THE LIFESPAN OF SURVIVORS OF CHILDHOOD CANCER. THE IMPROVEMENT IN SURVIVAL OF CHILDHOOD CANCER OBSERVED ACROSS THE PAST 50 YEARS HAS RESULTED IN A GROWING ACKNOWLEDGMENT THAT SIMPLY EXTENDING THE LIFESPAN OF SURVIVORS IS NOT ENOUGH. IT IS INCUMBENT ON BOTH THE CANCER RESEARCH AND THE CLINICAL CARE COMMUNITIES TO ALSO IMPROVE THE HEALTH SPAN OF SURVIVORS. IT IS WELL ESTABLISHED THAT AGING ADULT SURVIVORS OF CHILDHOOD CANCER ARE AT INCREASED RISK OF CHRONIC HEALTH CONDITIONS, RELATIVE TO THE GENERAL POPULATION. HOWEVER, AS THE FIRST GENERATION OF SURVIVORS AGE INTO THEIR 50S AND 60S, IT HAS BECOME INCREASINGLY EVIDENT THAT THIS POPULATION IS ALSO AT RISK OF EARLY ONSET OF PHYSIOLOGIC AGING. GERIATRIC MEASURES HAVE UNCOVERED EVIDENCE OF REDUCED STRENGTH AND SPEED AND INCREASED FATIGUE, ALL COMPONENTS OF FRAILTY, AMONG SURVIVORS WITH A MEDIAN AGE OF 33 YEARS, WHICH IS SIMILAR TO ADULTS OLDER THAN 65 YEARS OF AGE IN THE GENERAL POPULATION. FURTHERMORE, FRAILTY IN SURVIVORS INDEPENDENTLY INCREASED THE RISK OF MORBIDITY AND MORTALITY. ALTHOUGH THERE HAS BEEN A PAUCITY OF RESEARCH INVESTIGATING THE UNDERLYING BIOLOGIC MECHANISMS FOR ADVANCED PHYSIOLOGIC AGE IN SURVIVORS, RESULTS FROM GERIATRIC POPULATIONS SUGGEST FIVE BIOLOGICALLY PLAUSIBLE MECHANISMS THAT MAY BE POTENTIATED BY EXPOSURE TO CANCER THERAPIES: INCREASED CELLULAR SENESCENCE, REDUCED TELOMERE LENGTH, EPIGENETIC MODIFICATIONS, SOMATIC MUTATIONS, AND MITOCHONDRIAL DNA INFIDELITY. THERE IS NOW A CRITICAL NEED FOR RESEARCH TO ELUCIDATE THE BIOLOGIC MECHANISMS OF PREMATURE AGING IN SURVIVORS OF CHILDHOOD CANCER. THIS RESEARCH COULD PAVE THE WAY FOR NEW FRONTIERS IN THE PREVENTION OF THESE LIFE-CHANGING OUTCOMES. 2018 15 303 35 AIR POLLUTION STRESS AND THE AGING PHENOTYPE: THE TELOMERE CONNECTION. AGING IS A COMPLEX PHYSIOLOGICAL PHENOMENON. THE QUESTION WHY SOME SUBJECTS GROW OLD WHILE REMAINING FREE FROM DISEASE WHEREAS OTHERS PREMATURELY DIE REMAINS LARGELY UNANSWERED. WE FOCUS HERE ON THE ROLE OF AIR POLLUTION IN BIOLOGICAL AGING. HALLMARKS OF AGING CAN BE GROUPED INTO THREE MAIN CATEGORIES: GENOMIC INSTABILITY, TELOMERE ATTRITION, AND EPIGENETIC ALTERATIONS LEADING TO ALTERED MITOCHONDRIAL FUNCTION AND CELLULAR SENESCENCE. AT BIRTH, THE INITIAL TELOMERE LENGTH OF A PERSON IS LARGELY DETERMINED BY ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS. TELOMERE LENGTH SHORTENS WITH EACH CELL DIVISION AND EXPOSURE TO AIR POLLUTION AS WELL AS LOW RESIDENTIAL GREENS SPACE EXPOSURE IS ASSOCIATED WITH SHORTER TELOMERE LENGTH. RECENT STUDIES SHOW THAT THE ESTIMATED EFFECTS OF PARTICULATE AIR POLLUTION EXPOSURE ON THE TELOMERE MITOCHONDRIAL AXIS OF AGING MAY PLAY AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN CHRONIC HEALTH EFFECTS OF AIR POLLUTION. THE EXPOSOME ENCOMPASSES ALL EXPOSURES OVER AN ENTIRE LIFE. AS TELOMERES CAN BE CONSIDERED AS THE CELLULAR MEMORIES OF EXPOSURE TO OXIDATIVE STRESS AND INFLAMMATION, TELOMERE MAINTENANCE MAY BE A PROXY FOR ASSESSING THE "EXPOSOME". IF TELOMERES ARE CAUSALLY RELATED TO THE AGING PHENOTYPE AND ENVIRONMENTAL AIR POLLUTION IS AN IMPORTANT DETERMINANT OF TELOMERE LENGTH, THIS MIGHT PROVIDE NEW AVENUES FOR FUTURE PREVENTIVE STRATEGIES. 2016 16 929 27 CHRONIC INFLAMMATION: ACCELERATOR OF BIOLOGICAL AGING. BIOLOGICAL AGING IS CHARACTERIZED BY A CHRONIC LOW-GRADE INFLAMMATION LEVEL. THIS CHRONIC PHENOMENON HAS BEEN NAMED "INFLAMM-AGING" AND IS A HIGHLY SIGNIFICANT RISK FACTOR FOR MORBIDITY AND MORTALITY IN THE OLDER PERSONS. THE MOST COMMON THEORIES OF INFLAMM-AGING INCLUDE REDOX STRESS, MITOCHONDRIAL DYSFUNCTION, GLYCATION, DEREGULATION OF THE IMMUNE SYSTEM, HORMONAL CHANGES, EPIGENETIC MODIFICATIONS, AND DYSFUNCTION TELOMERE ATTRITION. INFLAMM-AGING PLAYS A ROLE IN THE INITIATION AND PROGRESSION OF AGE-RELATED DISEASES SUCH AS TYPE II DIABETES, ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE, CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE, FRAILTY, SARCOPENIA, OSTEOPOROSIS, AND CANCER. THIS REVIEW WILL COVER THE IDENTIFICATION OF PATHWAYS THAT CONTROL AGE-RELATED INFLAMMATION ACROSS MULTIPLE SYSTEMS AND ITS POTENTIAL CAUSAL ROLE IN CONTRIBUTING TO ADVERSE HEALTH OUTCOMES. 2017 17 5959 29 TELOMERE LENGTH AS A MARKER OF BIOLOGICAL AGE: STATE-OF-THE-ART, OPEN ISSUES, AND FUTURE PERSPECTIVES. TELOMERE SHORTENING IS A WELL-KNOWN HALLMARK OF BOTH CELLULAR SENESCENCE AND ORGANISMAL AGING. AN ACCELERATED RATE OF TELOMERE ATTRITION IS ALSO A COMMON FEATURE OF AGE-RELATED DISEASES. THEREFORE, TELOMERE LENGTH (TL) HAS BEEN RECOGNIZED FOR A LONG TIME AS ONE OF THE BEST BIOMARKERS OF AGING. RECENT RESEARCH FINDINGS, HOWEVER, INDICATE THAT TL PER SE CAN ONLY ALLOW A ROUGH ESTIMATE OF AGING RATE AND CAN HARDLY BE REGARDED AS A CLINICALLY IMPORTANT RISK MARKER FOR AGE-RELATED PATHOLOGIES AND MORTALITY. EVIDENCE IS OBTAINED THAT OTHER INDICATORS SUCH AS CERTAIN IMMUNE PARAMETERS, INDICES OF EPIGENETIC AGE, ETC., COULD BE STRONGER PREDICTORS OF THE HEALTH STATUS AND THE RISK OF CHRONIC DISEASE. HOWEVER, DESPITE THESE ISSUES AND LIMITATIONS, TL REMAINS TO BE VERY INFORMATIVE MARKER IN ACCESSING THE BIOLOGICAL AGE WHEN USED ALONG WITH OTHER MARKERS SUCH AS INDICES OF HOMEOSTATIC DYSREGULATION, FRAILTY INDEX, EPIGENETIC CLOCK, ETC. THIS REVIEW ARTICLE IS AIMED AT DESCRIBING THE CURRENT STATE OF THE ART IN THE FIELD AND AT DISCUSSING RECENT RESEARCH FINDINGS AND DIVERGENT VIEWPOINTS REGARDING THE USEFULNESS OF LEUKOCYTE TL FOR ESTIMATING THE HUMAN BIOLOGICAL AGE. 2020 18 6346 38 THE ROLE OF EPIGENETICS IN CARDIOVASCULAR HEALTH AND AGEING: A FOCUS ON PHYSICAL ACTIVITY AND NUTRITION. THE CARDIOVASCULAR SYSTEM IS RESPONSIBLE FOR TRANSPORT OF BLOOD AND NUTRIENTS TO TISSUES, AND IS PIVOTAL TO THE PHYSIOLOGICAL HEALTH AND LONGEVITY. EPIGENETIC MODIFICATION IS A NATURAL, AGE-ASSOCIATED PROCESS RESULTING IN HIGHLY CONTEXTUALISED GENE EXPRESSION WITH CLEAR IMPLICATIONS FOR CELL DIFFERENTIATION AND DISEASE ONSET. BIOLOGICAL/EPIGENETIC AGE IS INDEPENDENT OF CHRONOLOGICAL AGE, CONSTITUTING A HIGHLY REFLECTIVE SNAPSHOT OF AN INDIVIDUAL'S OVERALL HEALTH. ACCELERATED VASCULAR AGEING IS OF MAJOR CONCERN, EFFECTIVELY LOWERING DISEASE THRESHOLD. AGE-RELATED CHRONIC ILLNESS INVOLVES A COMPLEX INTERPLAY BETWEEN MANY BIOLOGICAL PROCESSES AND IS MODULATED BY NON-MODIFIABLE AND MODIFIABLE RISK FACTORS. THESE ALTER THE STATIC GENOME BY A NUMBER OF EPIGENETIC MECHANISMS, WHICH CHANGE GENE EXPRESSION IN AN AGE AND LIFESTYLE DEPENDENT MANNER. THIS 'EPIGENETIC DRIFT' IMPACTS HEALTH AND CONTRIBUTES TO THE ETIOLOGY OF CHRONIC ILLNESS. LIFESTYLE FACTORS MAY CAUSE ACCELERATION OF THIS EPIGENETIC "CLOCK", PRE-DISPOSING INDIVIDUALS TO CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE. NUTRITION AND PHYSICAL ACTIVITY ARE MODIFIABLE LIFESTYLE CHOICES, SYNERGISTICALLY CONTRIBUTING TO CARDIOVASCULAR HEALTH. THEY REPRESENT A POWERFUL POTENTIAL EPIGENETIC INTERVENTION POINT FOR EFFECTIVE CARDIOVASCULAR PROTECTIVE AND MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES. THUS, TOGETHER WITH TRADITIONAL RISK FACTORS, MONITORING THE EPIGENETIC SIGNATURE OF AGEING MAY PROVE BENEFICIAL FOR TAILORING LIFESTYLE TO FIT BIOLOGY - SUPPORTING THE INCREASINGLY POPULAR CONCEPT OF "AGEING WELL". 2018 19 5395 36 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 20 5945 34 TARGETING THE "HALLMARKS OF AGING" TO SLOW AGING AND TREAT AGE-RELATED DISEASE: FACT OR FICTION? AGING IS A MAJOR RISK FACTOR FOR A NUMBER OF CHRONIC DISEASES, INCLUDING NEURODEGENERATIVE AND CEREBROVASCULAR DISORDERS. AGING PROCESSES HAVE THEREFORE BEEN DISCUSSED AS POTENTIAL TARGETS FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF NOVEL AND BROADLY EFFECTIVE PREVENTATIVES OR THERAPEUTICS FOR AGE-RELATED DISEASES, INCLUDING THOSE AFFECTING THE BRAIN. MECHANISMS THOUGHT TO CONTRIBUTE TO AGING HAVE BEEN SUMMARIZED UNDER THE TERM THE "HALLMARKS OF AGING" AND INCLUDE A LOSS OF PROTEOSTASIS, MITOCHONDRIAL DYSFUNCTION, ALTERED NUTRIENT SENSING, TELOMERE ATTRITION, GENOMIC INSTABILITY, CELLULAR SENESCENCE, STEM CELL EXHAUSTION, EPIGENETIC ALTERATIONS AND ALTERED INTERCELLULAR COMMUNICATION. WE HERE EXAMINE KEY CLAIMS ABOUT THE "HALLMARKS OF AGING". OUR ANALYSIS REVEALS IMPORTANT WEAKNESSES THAT PRECLUDE STRONG AND DEFINITIVE CONCLUSIONS CONCERNING A POSSIBLE ROLE OF THESE PROCESSES IN SHAPING ORGANISMAL AGING RATE. SIGNIFICANT AMBIGUITY ARISES FROM THE OVERRELIANCE ON LIFESPAN AS A PROXY MARKER FOR AGING, THE USE OF MODELS WITH UNCLEAR RELEVANCE FOR ORGANISMAL AGING, AND THE USE OF STUDY DESIGNS THAT DO NOT ALLOW TO PROPERLY ESTIMATE INTERVENTION EFFECTS ON AGING RATE. WE ALSO DISCUSS FUTURE RESEARCH DIRECTIONS THAT SHOULD BE TAKEN TO CLARIFY IF AND TO WHAT EXTENT PUTATIVE AGING REGULATORS DO IN FACT INTERACT WITH AGING. THESE INCLUDE MULTIDIMENSIONAL ANALYTICAL FRAMEWORKS AS WELL AS DESIGNS THAT FACILITATE THE PROPER ASSESSMENT OF INTERVENTION EFFECTS ON AGING RATE. 2023