The trajectory of the blood DNA methylome ageing rate is largely set before adulthood: evidence from two longitudinal studies
The epigenetic clock, defined as the DNA methylome age (DNAmAge), is a candidate biomarker of ageing. In this study, we aimed to characterize the behaviour of this marker during the human lifespan in more detail using two follow-up cohorts (the Young Finns study, calendar age i.e. cAge range at base...
Saved in:
Published in | AGE Vol. 38; no. 3; p. 65 |
---|---|
Main Authors | , , , , , , , , , , , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
Cham
Springer International Publishing
01.06.2016
Springer Nature B.V |
Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
Cover
Loading…
Summary: | The epigenetic clock, defined as the DNA methylome age (DNAmAge), is a candidate biomarker of ageing. In this study, we aimed to characterize the behaviour of this marker during the human lifespan in more detail using two follow-up cohorts (the Young Finns study, calendar age i.e. cAge range at baseline 15–24 years, 25-year-follow-up,
N
= 183; The Vitality 90+ study, cAge range at baseline 19–90 years, 4-year-follow-up,
N
= 48). We also aimed to assess the relationship between DNAmAge estimate and the blood cell distributions, as both of these measures are known to change as a function of age. The subjects’ DNAmAges were determined using Horvath’s calculator of epigenetic cAge. The estimate of the DNA methylome age acceleration (Δ-cAge-DNAmAge) demonstrated remarkable stability in both cohorts: the individual rank orders of the DNAmAges remained largely unchanged during the follow-ups. The blood cell distributions also demonstrated significant intra-individual correlation between the baseline and follow-up time points. Interestingly, the immunosenescence-associated features (CD8+CD28− and CD4+CD28− cell proportions and the CD4/CD8 cell ratio) were tightly associated with the estimate of the DNA methylome age. In summary, our data demonstrate that the general level of Δ-cAge-DNAmAge is fixed before adulthood and appears to be quite stationary thereafter, even in the oldest-old ages. Moreover, the blood DNAmAge estimate seems to be tightly associated with ageing-associated shifts in blood cell composition, especially with those that are the hallmarks of immunosenescence. Overall, these observations contribute to the understanding of the longitudinal aspects of the DNAmAge estimate. |
---|---|
Bibliography: | ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23 |
ISSN: | 0161-9152 2509-2715 1574-4647 1574-4647 2509-2723 |
DOI: | 10.1007/s11357-016-9927-9 |