Identifying the relation between food groups and biological ageing: a data-driven approach

Dietary Carbohydrate Quality Is Associated with Epigenetic Age Acceleration: a Cross-Sectional Study of the CARDIA Cohort

BACKGROUND

Dietary intake is one lifestyle factor that is expected to impact gene expression by altering DNA methylation (DNAm), thus affecting epigenetic aging. Studies on the association between quality of carbohydrates and epigenetic age acceleration (EAA) are scarce despite the evidence that quality may be more important than amount of carbohydrates consumed.

OBJECTIVES

We aimed to identify the cross-sectional associations of carbohydrate quality and fiber-rich food score with EAA in the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) study.

METHODS

Trained interviewers administered the CARDIA Diet History to obtain dietary intake at examination year 20. EAA measures, PhenoAge acceleration (PhenoAA) and GrimAge acceleration (GrimAA), were generated based on epigenetic age estimates calculated using DNAm profiling data from fasting blood samples at examination years 20, 25, and 30. Linear mixed-effects regression models were used to evaluate the association of carbohydrate quality, defined using carbohydrate:fiber ratio, and fiber-rich food score with EAA measures.

RESULTS

After adjusting for demographic and lifestyle factors, quartiles of carbohydrate quality (defined using carbohydrate:fiber ratio) were inversely associated with PhenoAA and GrimAA; the highest carbohydrate quality quartile showing a difference (standard error [SE]) of -1.19 (0.2) y for PhenoAA (P-trend < 0.001) and -1.20 (0.1) y for GrimAA (P-trend < 0.001) compared with the lowest carbohydrate quality quartile. Similarly, quartiles of fiber-rich food score (created based on daily intakes of whole grains, fruit, vegetables, nuts, and legumes) were inversely associated with PhenoAA and GrimAA; the highest quartile showing a difference (SE) of -1.06 (0.2) y for PhenoAA (P-trend = 0.002) and -1.31 (0.2) y for GrimAA (P-trend < 0.001) compared with the lowest quartile.

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings suggest that consuming a high carbohydrate quality diet and a dietary pattern composed of fiber-rich foods is cross-sectionally associated with slower biological aging.

Polygenic risk for epigenetic aging and adverse life experiences interact to predict growth in adolescent depression in a racially/ethnically diverse sample

Introduction

Research has yet to examine the interplay between indices of environmental risk and resilience processes and genetic predisposition for epigenetic aging in predicting early adolescent depressive symptoms. In the current study we examine whether adverse life events and parental acceptance moderate polygenic predisposition for GrimAge epigenetic aging in predicting trajectories of depressive symptoms across early adolescence.

Method

Using data from the Adolescent Brain Development Study (ABCD, N = 11,875), we created polygenic scores for GrimAge, and examined whether exposure to adverse life events and parental acceptance moderated the relation between genetic risk and depressive symptom trajectories from age 10/11 to 12/13 using growth mixture modelling. We examined models separately in European American (EA), African American (AA), and Latinx (LX) subgroups of ABCD.

Results

In the EA and AA subgroups, adverse life events moderated polygenic scores for GrimAge such that there was increased likelihood of membership in a higher vs. lower depression trajectory.

Discussion

We extend literature by identifying genetic contributions to epigenetic aging as a depression diathesis in adolescence. Findings also highlight the detrimental role of adverse life events in exacerbating genetic risk for the development of depression in adolescence.

Association between the Planetary Health Diet Index and biological aging among the U.S. population

Background

The Planetary Health Diet (PHD) is a novel dietary pattern proposed by the EAT-Lancet Commission in 2019, yet a limited study has investigated the anti-aging effects of PHD to date.

Objectives

This study aimed to explore the association between adherence to PHD, as quantified by the Planetary Health Diet Index (PHDI), and biological aging in American populations.

Methods

Data were obtained from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) for 1999-2018. Food consumption information was relied on two 24-h diet recall questionnaires. The biological aging condition was comprehensively assessed by four biological markers, including phenotypic age, biological age, telomere length, and klotho concentration. Weighted multivariate linear models, restricted cubic spline (RCS), and subgroup analysis were subsequently carried out to evaluate the influence of PHDI on biological aging.

Results

44,925 participants with complete data were finally enrolled in our study. The fully adjusted models showed decreased 0.20 years in phenotypic age [-0.20 (-0.31, -0.10)] and declined 0.54 years in biological age [-0.54 (-0.69, -0.38)] correlated with PHDI per 10 scores increment. Klotho concentration [6.2 (1.0, 11.0)] was positively related to PHDI. In Model 2, telomere length increased by 0.02 bp for every 10-point rise in PHDI. Besides, the RCS analysis results exhibited a curvilinear relationship between PHDI and four indicators.

Conclusion

Our study explored a significant correlation between PHDI and biological aging, indicating that adherence to PHD may prevent biological aging.

Exploring the Relationships between Lifestyle Patterns and Epigenetic Biological Age Measures in Men

DNA methylation, validated as a surrogate for biological age, is a potential tool for predicting future morbidity and mortality outcomes. This study aims to explore how lifestyle patterns are associated with epigenetic changes in British men. Five biological age clocks were utilised to investigate the relationship between these epigenetic markers and lifestyle-related factors in a prospective study involving 221 participants. Spearman's correlation test, Pearson's correlation test, and univariate linear regression were employed for analysis. The results indicate that higher consumption of saturated fat and total daily calories, and a higher body mass index (BMI) are associated with accelerated biological aging. Conversely, higher vitamin D intake and a higher healthy lifestyle index (HLI) are linked to decelerated biological aging. These findings highlight the potential impact of specific lifestyle-related factors on biological aging and can serve as a reference for applying healthy lifestyle improvements in future disease prevention studies.

Exploring the causal association between epigenetic clocks and menopause age: insights from a bidirectional Mendelian randomization study

Background

Evidence suggests a connection between DNA methylation (DNAm) aging and reproductive aging. However, the causal relationship between DNAm and age at menopause remains uncertain.

Methods

Employing established DNAm epigenetic clocks, such as DNAm Hannum age acceleration (Hannum), Intrinsic epigenetic age acceleration (IEAA), DNAm-estimated granulocyte proportions (Gran), DNAm GrimAge acceleration (GrimAgeAccel), DNAm PhenoAge acceleration (PhenoAgeAccel), and DNAm-estimated plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 levels (DNAmPAIadjAge), a bidirectional Mendelian randomization (MR) study was carried out to explore the potential causality between DNAm and menopausal age. The primary analytical method used was the inverse variance weighted (IVW) estimation model, supplemented by various other estimation techniques.

Results

DNAm aging acceleration or deceleration, as indicated by Hannum, IEAA, Gran, GrimAgeAccel, PhenoAgeAccel, and DNAmPAIadjAge, did not exhibit a statistically significant causal effect on menopausal age according to forward MR analysis. However, there was a suggestive positive causal association between age at menopause and Gran (Beta = 0.0010; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.0004, 0.0020) in reverse MR analysis.

Conclusion

The observed increase in granulocyte DNAm levels in relation to menopausal age could potentially serve as a valuable indicator for evaluating the physiological status at the onset of menopause.