Department of Sociology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, 30602, United States.
Center for Family Research, University of Georgia, United States.
Soc Sci Med. 2022 Aug;307:115175. doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2022.115175. Epub 2022 Jul 5.
While numerous studies have documented the power of new generation epigenetic clocks to predict morbidity and mortality, research regarding the causes of variation in speed of epigenetic aging is in the early stages. To the extent that these epigenetic clocks are robust measures of biological aging, they should be sensitive to various nutritional, behavioral, ecological, and social factors that have been shown to affect health.
Investigate over an 11-year period the extent to which changes in socioeconomic stress and lifestyle predict changes in speed of epigenetic aging among a sample of middle-aged African American women.
Using data from the Family and Community Health Study, we investigated whether changes in socioeconomic stress, diet, smoking, exercise, alcohol consumption, and relationship status predict changes in speed of biological aging assessed with 3 s-generation epigenetic clocks: AccelGrimAge, DunedinPoAm, and AccelPhenoAge. The study was able to avoid the challenges associated with self-reports of diet and smoking by employing recently developed epigenetic measures.
Changes in socioeconomic stress and diet were associated with changes in speed of biological aging as assessed by all three epigenetic clocks, and changes in smoking was related to changes in AccelGrimAge and DunedinPoAm. Analyses controlling for cell-type indicated that in large measure diet exerts its effect on aging through its impact on the immune system.
These findings suggest that adoption of a healthy diet and reduction in the use of tobacco are related to a decrease in epigenetic aging, whereas increased pressure relating to income, housing and economic independence are associated with an increase in the speed of aging. These effects were especially strong for the two epigenetic clocks AccelGrimAge and DunedinPoAm. Overall, the results indicate that stress and lifestyle changes may, for better or worse, influence the "biological weathering" often experienced by middle-aged African American women.
虽然有许多研究记录了新一代表观遗传时钟预测发病率和死亡率的能力，但关于表观遗传衰老速度变化原因的研究还处于早期阶段。在这些表观遗传时钟是生物衰老的可靠衡量标准的程度上，它们应该对各种营养、行为、生态和社会因素敏感，这些因素已被证明会影响健康。
在一项为期 11 年的研究中，调查社会经济压力和生活方式的变化在多大程度上预测了中年非裔美国女性样本中表观遗传衰老速度的变化。
利用家庭和社区健康研究的数据，我们调查了社会经济压力、饮食、吸烟、锻炼、饮酒和婚姻状况的变化是否预测了三种第三代表观遗传时钟（AccelGrimAge、DunedinPoAm 和 AccelPhenoAge）评估的生物衰老速度的变化。该研究通过采用最近开发的表观遗传测量方法，避免了饮食和吸烟的自我报告相关的挑战。
社会经济压力和饮食的变化与所有三种表观遗传时钟评估的生物衰老速度的变化相关，吸烟的变化与 AccelGrimAge 和 DunedinPoAm 的变化相关。控制细胞类型的分析表明，饮食在很大程度上通过其对免疫系统的影响来发挥其对衰老的影响。
这些发现表明，采用健康饮食和减少烟草使用与表观遗传衰老的减少有关，而与收入、住房和经济独立相关的压力增加与衰老速度的增加有关。这些影响在 AccelGrimAge 和 DunedinPoAm 这两种表观遗传时钟中尤为明显。总的来说，研究结果表明，压力和生活方式的改变可能会对中年非裔美国女性经常经历的“生物风化”产生积极或消极的影响。
