A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Environmental, Lifestyle, and Health Factors Associated With DNA Methylation Age

Abstract

<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title> <jats:p>DNA methylation (DNAm) algorithms of biological age provide a robust estimate of an individual’s chronological age and can predict their risk of age-related disease and mortality. This study reviewed the evidence that environmental, lifestyle and health factors are associated with the Horvath and Hannum epigenetic clocks. A systematic search identified 61 studies. Chronological age was correlated with DNAm age in blood (median .83, range .13–.99). In a meta-analysis body mass index (BMI) was associated with increased DNAm age (Hannum β: 0.07, 95% CI 0.04 to 0.10; Horvath β: 0.06, 95% CI 0.02 to 0.10), but there was no association with smoking (Hannum β: 0.12, 95% CI −0.50 to 0.73; Horvath β:0.18, 95% CI −0.10 to 0.46). DNAm age was positively associated with frailty (three studies, n = 3,093), and education was negatively associated with the Hannum estimate of DNAm age specifically (four studies, n = 13,955). For most other exposures, findings were too inconsistent to draw conclusions. In conclusion, BMI was positively associated with biological aging measured using DNAm, with some evidence that frailty also increased aging. More research is needed to provide conclusive evidence regarding other exposures. This field of research has the potential to provide further insights into how to promote slower biological aging and ultimately prolong healthy life.</jats:p>

DNA methylation-based measures of accelerated biological ageing and the risk of dementia in the oldest-old: a study of the Lothian Birth Cohort 1921

“…Whereas a number of studies have suggested an increased risk for dementia associated with DNA methylation patterns at specific loci or with increased DNA methylation age, we are not aware of any studies that specifically examined the relationship between methylation-based measures of accelerated ageing and dementia [28][29][30][31]. For this reason, it is not possible for us to directly compare our findings.…”

The costs of competition: high social status males experience accelerated epigenetic aging in wild baboons

“…Rather, sex difference becomes apparent after baboons have reached full physiological and social adulthood (N = 119, chronological age by sex interaction β = 0.459, p < 10 −6 in animals ≥ 8 years), when divergence between male and female life history strategies is most marked [12–14] and when aging rates between the sexes are predicted to diverge [15–17]. This pattern suggests that within each sex, deviations between predicted age and chronological age—commonly interpreted as a measure of “biological age” or accelerated aging—may also be affected by environmental or life history variation, as has been suggested in humans, lab mice, and captive rhesus macaques [3, 4, 18, 19].…”

Evidence of accelerated epigenetic aging in patients diagnosed with coronary artery disease: Results of the LipidCardio study

“…A systematic review and meta-analysis by Ryan et al recently revised existing literature reporting on the epigenetic clock´s association with lifestyle factors including BMI as well as alcohol consumption and smoking (Ryan et al, 2019), concluding that there is an association between BMI and epigenetic ageing. (Ryan et al, 2019).…”

“…A number of studies have assessed the association of DNAm age acceleration and smoking, concluding no association (N=16,844 participants, included in a review by Ryan et al (Ryan et al, 2019)) (Binder et al, 2018;Gao, Zhang, Breitling, & Brenner, 2016;Horvath, Gurven, Levine, Trumble, Kaplan, Allayee, Ritz, Chen, Lu, Rickabaugh, Jamieson, Sun, Li, Chen, Quintana-Murci, et al, 2016;Irvin et al, 2018;M. E. Levine et al, 2015;Quach, Levine, Tanaka, Lu, Chen, Ritz, et al, 2017;Simons et al, 2017) CI 0.033 -0.086, p<0.001), but not the intrinsic Horvath rDNA age acceleration in the Generation Scotland study (McCartney et al, 2018).…”