Department of Epidemiology, Emory University Rollins School of Public Health, Atlanta, GA, USA.
Department of Pediatrics, Brown Alpert Medical School and Women and Infants Hospital, Providence, RI, USA.
Epigenetics. 2023 Dec;18(1):2280738. doi: 10.1080/15592294.2023.2280738. Epub 2023 Nov 20.
Epigenetic age acceleration is a risk factor for chronic diseases of ageing and may reflect aspects of biological ageing. However, few studies have examined epigenetic ageing during the early neonatal period in preterm infants, who are at heightened risk of developmental problems. We examined relationships between neonatal age acceleration, neonatal morbidities, and neurobehavioral domains among very preterm (<30 weeks gestation) infants to characterize whether infants with early morbidities or different neurobehavioral characteristics had accelerated or decelerated epigenetic ageing. This study uses data from the Neonatal Neurobehavior and Outcomes in Very Preterm Infants (NOVI) study, restricted to infants with data on variables assessed ( = 519). We used generalized estimating equations to test for differences in age acceleration associated with severe neonatal medical morbidities and neurobehavioral characteristics. We found that infants with neonatal morbidities, in particular, bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD), had accelerated epigenetic age - and some evidence that infants with hypertonicity and asymmetric reflexes had increased and decreased age acceleration, respectively. Adjustment for gestational age attenuated some associations, suggesting that the relationships observed may be driven by the duration of gestation. Our most robust finding shows that very preterm infants with neonatal morbidities (BPD in particular) exhibit age acceleration, but most neonatal neurobehavioral characteristics and morbidities are not associated with early life age acceleration. Lower gestational age at birth may be an upstream factor driving these associations.
表观遗传年龄加速是与衰老相关的慢性疾病的一个风险因素，可能反映了生物学衰老的某些方面。然而，很少有研究在早产儿的新生儿早期检查表观遗传年龄，而早产儿处于发育问题的高风险中。我们研究了极早产儿（<30 周妊娠）中新生儿年龄加速、新生儿发病率和神经行为领域之间的关系，以确定是否存在早期发病或不同神经行为特征的婴儿存在加速或减速的表观遗传年龄。本研究使用了来自新生儿神经行为和极早产儿结局（NOVI）研究的数据，仅限于有评估变量数据的婴儿（ = 519）。我们使用广义估计方程来检验与严重新生儿医学发病率和神经行为特征相关的年龄加速差异。我们发现，患有新生儿疾病的婴儿，特别是患有支气管肺发育不良（BPD）的婴儿，其表观遗传年龄加速，有证据表明，张力亢进和不对称反射的婴儿的表观遗传年龄分别增加和减少。调整胎龄减弱了一些关联，表明观察到的关系可能是由胎龄的持续时间驱动的。我们最有力的发现表明，患有新生儿疾病（特别是 BPD）的极早产儿表现出年龄加速，但大多数新生儿神经行为特征和发病率与早期生活年龄加速无关。出生时较低的胎龄可能是驱动这些关联的上游因素。
