Hägg Sara, Belsky Daniel W, Cohen Alan A
Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
Department of Epidemiology & Butler Aging Center, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, New York, U.S.A.
Emerg Top Life Sci. 2019 Aug 16;3(4):411-421. doi: 10.1042/ETLS20180173.
The field of molecular epidemiology of aging involves the application of molecular methods to measure aging processes and their genetic determinants in human cohorts. Over the last decade, the field has undergone rapid progress with a dramatic increase in the number of papers published. The aim of this review is to give an overview of the research field, with a specific focus on new developments, opportunities, and challenges. Aging occurs at multiple hierarchical levels. There is increasing consensus that aging-related changes at the molecular level cause declines in physiological integrity, functional capacity, and ultimately lifespan. Molecular epidemiology studies seek to quantify this process. Telomere length, composite scores integrating clinical biomarkers, and omics clocks are among the most well-studied metrics in molecular epidemiology studies. New developments in the field include bigger data and hypothesis-free analysis together with new modes of collaborations in interdisciplinary teams and open access norms around data sharing. Key challenges facing the field are the lack of a gold standard by which to evaluate molecular measures of aging, inconsistency in which metrics of aging are measured and analyzed across studies, and a need for more longitudinal data necessary to observe change over time.
衰老分子流行病学领域涉及应用分子方法来测量人类队列中的衰老过程及其遗传决定因素。在过去十年中，该领域取得了快速进展，发表的论文数量急剧增加。本综述的目的是概述该研究领域，特别关注新进展、机遇和挑战。衰老发生在多个层次水平。越来越多的人达成共识，即分子水平上与衰老相关的变化会导致生理完整性、功能能力下降，并最终导致寿命缩短。分子流行病学研究旨在量化这一过程。端粒长度、整合临床生物标志物的综合评分以及组学时钟是分子流行病学研究中研究最多的指标。该领域的新进展包括更大的数据和无假设分析，以及跨学科团队的新合作模式和围绕数据共享的开放获取规范。该领域面临的主要挑战是缺乏评估衰老分子测量的金标准、各研究在测量和分析衰老指标方面的不一致，以及需要更多纵向数据来观察随时间的变化。
