Socioeconomic position, lifestyle habits and biomarkers of epigenetic aging: a multi-cohort analysis
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Published version
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
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) hasbeen 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 themagnitude of the effectsdiffereddepending 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 ofsmoking, which hada 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
Date Acceptance
2018-12-06
Citation
Aging, 2019, 11 (7), pp.2045-2070
ISSN
1945-4589
Publisher
Impact Journals
Start Page
2045
End Page
2070
Journal / Book Title
Aging
Volume
11
Issue
7
Copyright Statement
© 2019 Fiorito et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Sponsor
Medical Research Council (MRC)
Commission of the European Communities
Grant Number
MR/M501669/1
633666
Subjects
Science & Technology
Life Sciences & Biomedicine
Cell Biology
Geriatrics & Gerontology
socioeconomic position
education
biological aging
epigenetic clocks
DNA METHYLATION
PERIPHERAL-BLOOD
CANCER-RISK
CARDIOVASCULAR RISK
WIDE METHYLATION
ASSOCIATION
HEALTH
MUTATIONS
DISEASE
DRIFT
biological aging
education
epigenetic clocks
socioeconomic position
BIOS Consortium
Lifepath consortium
0601 Biochemistry and Cell Biology
0606 Physiology
1112 Oncology and Carcinogenesis
Publication Status
Published