Evaluation of biological aging process - a population-based study of healthy people in China.

BACKGROUND

Although there have been cross-sectional and longitudinal studies examining biological age (BA) with chronological age (CA)-related changes in physical, physiological, biochemical, and hormonal variables, few studies have performed echocardiographic evaluation of the cardiovascular system and inflammatory biomarkers. Furthermore, little is known about biomarkers of aging and BA score (BAS) for healthy people in China.

OBJECTIVES

The purpose of this study was to identify the biomarkers of healthy aging and to establish BAS for healthy people in China.

METHODS

We examined 2,876 men and women aged 30-98 years old in three Chinese cities, and 852 healthy subjects were assessed with 108 physical, morphological, physiological and biochemical variables. After excluding binary variables, variables that had a correlation coefficient with CA of < or =0.25 and redundant variables, eight variables including CA, arterial pulse pressure (PP), intima-media thickness (IMT), end diastolic velocity (EDV), ratio of peak velocity of early filling to atrial filling (E/A), mitral valve annulus lateral wall of peak velocity of early filling (MVEL), cystatin C (CYSC), and fibrinogen (FIB) were selected as candidate biomarkers of aging based on a factor-weighted BAS composite for predicting BA.

RESULTS

The BAS equation was 0.248 (CA) + 0.195 (IMT) - 0.196 (EDV) - 0.167 (E/A) - 0.166 (MVEL) + 0.188 (PP) + 0.182 (FIB) + 0.193 (CYSC). Individual BAS were significantly correlated with CA (r = 0.893, p < 0.001). Biological aging rate predicted by BAS was accelerated with increases in CA, and peaked when healthy men and women reached > or =75 years of age.

CONCLUSIONS

Our data suggest that BAS is superior to CA in assessing the rate of aging in healthy Chinese people. The cardiovascular variables play a crucial role in the evaluation of biological aging. Biological aging rate appears to be age specific.