Leonard Davis School of Gerontology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA.
J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci. 2024 Dec 1;79(12). doi: 10.1093/geronb/gbae176.
Exposure to stressful neighborhood environments is a well-established risk factor for health deterioration and premature death. However, the biological underpinnings are not fully understood. Epigenetic aging may function as a key molecular pathway to adverse health outcomes among residents of high-stress neighborhoods. This study examines the associations between neighborhood social stressors (socioeconomic deprivation, observed and perceived disorder, and low social cohesion) and epigenetic age (DunedinPACE and Principal component adjusted [PC] PCHorvath, PCHannum, PCPhenoAge, PCGrimAge). Further, we identify subpopulations most vulnerable to neighborhood stressors.
Respondent data are from the 2016 Health and Retirement Study (HRS) DNA methylation subsample. Neighborhood data come from respondent reports (2014/2016) and the census (2012-2016 ACS). The analytic sample included 3,146 adults ages 56 and older (mean age = 68.8), of whom 54.9% were women and 19.3% were non-White.
In multilevel regression models adjusting for sociodemographic covariates, all neighborhood stressors were associated with faster DunedinPACE (B = 0.008 to 0.017). Neighborhood deprivation, perceived disorder, and low cohesion were associated with PCPhenoAge (B = 0.27 to 0.40) or PCGrimAge acceleration (B = 0.23). Health behaviors explained these associations to some degree. However, no significant associations were found with PCHorvath and PCHannum. In interaction analyses, adverse associations with deprivation, observed disorder, and low cohesion were more pronounced for women. No consistent interactions were found for race/ethnic and education groups.
Our findings indicate that neighborhood stressors can accelerate epigenetic aging, with older women particularly vulnerable to their effects. These findings provide insights into the biological foundations of health disparities rooted in neighborhood environments.
暴露于压力大的邻里环境是健康恶化和早逝的一个公认的危险因素。然而，其生物学基础尚不完全清楚。表观遗传衰老可能是高压力社区居民不良健康结果的关键分子途径。本研究探讨了邻里社会压力源（社会经济剥夺、观察到的和感知到的无序以及低社会凝聚力）与表观遗传年龄（邓迪 PACE 和主成分调整 [PC] PCHorvath、PCGrimAge、PCPhenoAge）之间的关联。此外，我们还确定了最易受邻里压力源影响的亚人群。
应答者数据来自 2016 年健康与退休研究（HRS）DNA 甲基化子样本。邻里数据来自应答者报告（2014/2016 年）和人口普查（2012-2016 年 ACS）。分析样本包括 3146 名年龄在 56 岁及以上的成年人（平均年龄=68.8 岁），其中 54.9%为女性，19.3%为非白人。
在调整社会人口学协变量的多层次回归模型中，所有邻里压力源与更快的邓迪 PACE 相关（B=0.008 至 0.017）。社会经济剥夺、感知障碍和低凝聚力与 PCPhenoAge（B=0.27 至 0.40）或 PCGrimAge 加速（B=0.23）相关。健康行为在一定程度上解释了这些关联。然而，与 PCHorvath 和 PCHannum 没有发现显著关联。在交互分析中，社会经济剥夺、观察到的障碍和低凝聚力与女性的不良关联更为明显。在种族/民族和教育群体中没有发现一致的相互作用。
我们的研究结果表明，邻里压力源可以加速表观遗传衰老，而老年女性尤其容易受到其影响。这些发现为基于邻里环境的健康差异的生物学基础提供了新的认识。
