Progress in biological age research

Joint association of biological aging and lifestyle with risks of cancer incidence and mortality: A cohort study in the UK Biobank

BACKGROUND

Aging is a risk factor for cancer incidence and mortality. Biological aging can reflect the aging degree of the body better than chronological age and can be aggravated by unhealthy lifestyle factors. We aimed to assess the joint effect of biological aging and lifestyle with risks of cancer incidence and mortality.

METHODS

This study included a total of 281,889 participants aged 37 to 73 from the UK Biobank database. Biological age was derived from chronological age and 9 clinical blood indicators, and lifestyle score was constructed by body mass index, smoking status, alcohol consumption, physical activity, and diet. Multivariate Cox hazard proportional regression model was used to analyze the independent and joint association of biological aging and lifestyle with risks of cancer incidence and mortality, respectively.

RESULTS

Over a median follow-up period of 12.3 years, we found that older biological age was associated with increased risks of overall cancer, digestive system cancers, lung, breast and renal cancers incidence and mortality (HRs: 1.12-2.25). In the joint analysis of biological aging and lifestyle with risks of cancer incidence and mortality, compared with unhealthy lifestyle and younger biological age, individuals with healthy lifestyle and older biological age had decreased risks of incidence (8% ∼ 60%) and mortality (20% ∼ 63%) for overall, esophageal, colorectal, pancreatic and lung cancers.

CONCLUSIONS

Biological aging may be an important risk factor for cancer morbidity and mortality. A healthier lifestyle is more likely to mitigate the adverse effects of biological aging on overall cancer and some site-specific cancers.

Age is just a number: can proteomic analysis provide insight into the aging body?

Recent proteomic studies have increased our understanding of the molecular process of aging, potentially enabling age-related diseases to be treated before the appearance of symptoms. [Formula: see text].

Progress in the study of aging marker criteria in human populations

The use of human aging markers, which are physiological, biochemical and molecular indicators of structural or functional degeneration associated with aging, is the fundamental basis of individualized aging assessments. Identifying methods for selecting markers has become a primary and vital aspect of aging research. However, there is no clear consensus or uniform principle on the criteria for screening aging markers. Therefore, we combine previous research from our center and summarize the criteria for screening aging markers in previous population studies, which are discussed in three aspects: functional perspective, operational implementation perspective and methodological perspective. Finally, an evaluation framework has been established, and the criteria are categorized into three levels based on their importance, which can help assess the extent to which a candidate biomarker may be feasible, valid, and useful for a specific use context.

Sex and gender correlates of sexually polymorphic cognition

BACKGROUND

Sexually polymorphic cognition (SPC) results from the interaction between biological (birth-assigned sex (BAS), sex hormones) and socio-cultural (gender identity, gender roles, sexual orientation) factors. The literature remains quite mixed regarding the magnitude of the effects of these variables. This project used a battery of classic cognitive tests designed to assess the influence of sex hormones on cognitive performance. At the same time, we aimed to assess the inter-related and respective effects that BAS, sex hormones, and gender-related factors have on SPC.

METHODS

We recruited 222 adults who completed eight cognitive tasks that assessed a variety of cognitive domains during a 150-min session. Subgroups were separated based on gender identity and sexual orientation and recruited as follows: cisgender heterosexual men (n = 46), cisgender non-heterosexual men (n = 36), cisgender heterosexual women (n = 36), cisgender non-heterosexual women (n = 38), gender diverse (n = 66). Saliva samples were collected before, during, and after the test to assess testosterone, estradiol, progesterone, cortisol, and dehydroepiandrosterone. Psychosocial variables were derived from self-report questionnaires.

RESULTS

Cognitive performance reflects sex and gender differences that are partially consistent with the literature. Interestingly, biological factors seem to better explain differences in male-typed cognitive tasks (i.e., spatial), while psychosocial factors seem to better explain differences in female-typed cognitive tasks (i.e., verbal).

CONCLUSION

Our results establish a better comprehension of SPC over and above the effects of BAS as a binary variable. We highlight the importance of treating sex as a biological factor and gender as a socio-cultural factor together since they collectively influence SPC.

Associations between the New DNA-Methylation-Based Telomere Length Estimator, the Mediterranean Diet and Genetics in a Spanish Population at High Cardiovascular Risk

Biological aging is a relevant risk factor for chronic diseases, and several indicators for measuring this factor have been proposed, with telomere length (TL) among the most studied. Oxidative stress may regulate telomere shortening, which is implicated in the increased risk. Using a novel estimator for TL, we examined whether adherence to the Mediterranean diet (MedDiet), a highly antioxidant-rich dietary pattern, is associated with longer TL. We determined TL using DNA methylation algorithms (DNAmTL) in 414 subjects at high cardiovascular risk from Spain. Adherence to the MedDiet was assessed by a validated score, and genetic variants in candidate genes and at the genome-wide level were analyzed. We observed several significant associations (p < 0.05) between DNAmTL and candidate genes (TERT, TERF2, RTEL1, and DCAF4), contributing to the validity of DNAmTL as a biomarker in this population. Higher adherence to the MedDiet was associated with lower odds of having a shorter TL in the whole sample (OR = 0.93; 95% CI: 0.85-0.99; p = 0.049 after fully multivariate adjustment). Nevertheless, this association was stronger in women than in men. Likewise, in women, we observed a direct association between adherence to the MedDiet score and DNAmTL as a continuous variable (beta = 0.015; SE: 0.005; p = 0.003), indicating that a one-point increase in adherence was related to an average increase of 0.015 ± 0.005 kb in TL. Upon examination of specific dietary items within the global score, we found that fruits, fish, "sofrito", and whole grains exhibited the strongest associations in women. The novel score combining these items was significantly associated in the whole population. In the genome-wide association study (GWAS), we identified ten polymorphisms at the suggestive level of significance (p < 1 × 10-5) for DNAmTL (intergenics, in the IQSEC1, NCAPG2, and ABI3BP genes) and detected some gene-MedDiet modulations on DNAmTL. As this is the first study analyzing the DNAmTL estimator, genetics, and modulation by the MedDiet, more studies are needed to confirm these findings.