Max Planck Research Group Biosocial - Biology, Social Disparities, and Development, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Lentzeallee 94, 14195, Berlin, Germany.
Population Research Center, The University of Texas, Austin, USA.
Clin Epigenetics. 2024 Feb 8;16(1):22. doi: 10.1186/s13148-024-01637-7.
Self-control is a personality dimension that is associated with better physical health and a longer lifespan. Here, we examined (1) whether self-control is associated with buccal and saliva DNA-methylation (DNAm) measures of biological aging quantified in children, adolescents, and adults, and (2) whether biological aging measured in buccal DNAm is associated with self-reported health. Following preregistered analyses, we computed two DNAm measures of advanced biological age (principal-component PhenoAge and GrimAge Acceleration) and a DNAm measure of pace of aging (DunedinPACE) in buccal samples from the German Socioeconomic Panel Study (SOEP-G[ene], n = 1058, age range 0-72, M = 42.65) and saliva samples from the Texas Twin Project (TTP, n = 1327, age range 8-20, M = 13.50). We found that lower self-control was associated with advanced biological age in older adults (PhenoAge Acceleration β = - .34, [- .51, - .17], p < .001; GrimAge Acceleration β = - .34, [- .49, - .19], p < .001), but not young adults, adolescents or children. These associations remained statistically robust even after correcting for possible confounders such as socioeconomic contexts, BMI, or genetic correlates of low self-control. Moreover, a faster pace of aging and advanced biological age measured in buccal DNAm were associated with self-reported disease (PhenoAge Acceleration: β = .13 [.06, .19], p < .001; GrimAge Acceleration: β = .19 [.12, .26], p < .001; DunedinPACE: β = .09 [.02, .17], p = .01). However, effect sizes were weaker than observations in blood, suggesting that customization of DNAm aging measures to buccal and saliva tissues may be necessary. Our findings are consistent with the hypothesis that self-control is associated with health via pathways that accelerate biological aging in older adults.
自我控制是一个与更好的身体健康和更长寿命相关的人格维度。在这里，我们研究了（1）自我控制是否与儿童、青少年和成年人的口腔和唾液 DNA 甲基化（DNAm）生物衰老测量值有关，以及（2）口腔 DNAm 测量的生物衰老是否与自我报告的健康有关。在遵循预先注册的分析之后，我们在德国社会经济面板研究（SOEP-G[ene]，n=1058，年龄范围 0-72，M=42.65）的口腔样本和德克萨斯双胞胎项目（TTP，n=1327，年龄范围 8-20，M=13.50）的唾液样本中计算了两个 DNAm 高级生物年龄指标（主要成分 PhenoAge 和 GrimAge 加速）和一个 DNAm 衰老速度指标（DunedinPACE）。我们发现，较低的自我控制能力与老年人的生物年龄老化有关（PhenoAge 加速β=-0.34，[-0.51，-0.17]，p<0.001；GrimAge 加速β=-0.34，[-0.49，-0.19]，p<0.001），但在年轻人、青少年或儿童中没有发现这种关联。即使在纠正了可能的混杂因素（如社会经济背景、BMI 或低自我控制的遗传相关性）后，这些关联仍然具有统计学意义。此外，口腔 DNAm 中测量的衰老速度加快和生物年龄老化与自我报告的疾病有关（PhenoAge 加速：β=0.13 [0.06，0.19]，p<0.001；GrimAge 加速：β=0.19 [0.12，0.26]，p<0.001；DunedinPACE：β=0.09 [0.02，0.17]，p=0.01）。然而，效应大小比血液中的观察结果要弱，这表明可能需要针对口腔和唾液组织定制 DNAm 衰老测量值。我们的发现与自我控制通过加速老年人生物衰老的途径与健康相关的假设一致。
