Socioeconomic position, lifestyle habits and biomarkers of epigenetic aging: a multi-cohort analysis.

DOI
Publisher DOI
PubMed ID
31009935
Abstract
Differences in health status by socioeconomic position (SEP) tend to be more evident at older ages, suggesting the involvement of a biological mechanism responsive to the accumulation of deleterious exposures across the lifespan. DNA methylation (DNAm) has been proposed as a biomarker of biological aging that conserves memory of endogenous and exogenous stress during life.We examined the association of education level, as an indicator of SEP, and lifestyle-related variables with four biomarkers of age-dependent DNAm dysregulation: the total number of stochastic epigenetic mutations (SEMs) and three epigenetic clocks (Horvath, Hannum and Levine), in 18 cohorts spanning 12 countries.The four biological aging biomarkers were associated with education and different sets of risk factors independently, and the magnitude of the effects differed depending on the biomarker and the predictor. On average, the effect of low education on epigenetic aging was comparable with those of other lifestyle-related risk factors (obesity, alcohol intake), with the exception of smoking, which had a significantly stronger effect.Our study shows that low education is an independent predictor of accelerated biological (epigenetic) aging and that epigenetic clocks appear to be good candidates for disentangling the biological pathways underlying social inequalities in healthy aging and longevity.
Date Issued
2019-04-14
Publication Type
Article
Subject(s)
Subjects
biological aging education epigenetic clocks socioeconomic position
Language(s)
en
Author(s)
Fiorito, Giovanni
McCrory, Cathal
Robinson, Oliver
Carmeli, Cristian
Rosales, Carolina Ochoa
Zhang, Yan
Colicino, Elena
Dugué, Pierre-Antoine
Artaud, Fanny
McKay, Gareth J
Jeong, Ayoung
Mishra, Pashupati P
Nøst, Therese H
Krogh, Vittorio
Panico, Salvatore
Sacerdote, Carlotta
Tumino, Rosario
Palli, Domenico
Matullo, Giuseppe
Guarrera, Simonetta
Gandini, Martina
Bochud, Murielle
Dermitzakis, Emmanouil
Schwartz, Joel
Vokonas, Pantel S
Just, Allan
Hodge, Allison M
Giles, Graham G
Southey, Melissa C
Hurme, Mikko A
Young, Ian
McKnight, Amy Jayne
Kunze, Sonja
Waldenberger, Melanie
Peters, Annette
Schwettmann, Lars
Lund, Eiliv
Baccarelli, Andrea
Milne, Roger L
Kenny, Rose A
Elbaz, Alexis
Brenner, Hermann
Kee, Frank
Voortman, Trudy
Probst-Hensch, Nicole
Lehtimäki, Terho
Elliot, Paul
Stringhini, Silvia
Vineis, Paolo
Polidoro, Silvia
Additional Credits
Journal
Aging
Publisher
Impact Journals
ISSN
1945-4589
Access(Rights)
open.access
Show full item