TY - JOUR
T1 - Socioeconomic position, lifestyle habits and biomarkers of epigenetic aging
T2 - A multi-cohort analysis
AU - the BIOS Consortium
AU - the LIFEPATH consortium
AU - Fiorito, Giovanni
AU - McCrory, Cathal
AU - Robinson, Oliver
AU - Carmeli, Cristian
AU - Rosales, Carolina Ochoa
AU - Zhang, Yan
AU - Colicino, Elena
AU - Dugué, Pierre Antoine
AU - Artaud, Fanny
AU - McKay, Gareth J.
AU - Jeong, Ayoung
AU - Mishra, Pashupati P.
AU - Nøst, Therese H.
AU - Krogh, Vittorio
AU - Panico, Salvatore
AU - Sacerdote, Carlotta
AU - Tumino, Rosario
AU - Palli, Domenico
AU - Matullo, Giuseppe
AU - Guarrera, Simonetta
AU - Gandini, Martina
AU - Bochud, Murielle
AU - Dermitzakis, Emmanouil
AU - Muka, Taulant
AU - Schwartz, Joel
AU - Vokonas, Pantel S.
AU - Just, Allan
AU - Hodge, Allison M.
AU - Giles, Graham G.
AU - Southey, Melissa C.
AU - Hurme, Mikko A.
AU - Young, Ian
AU - McKnight, Amy Jayne
AU - Kunze, Sonja
AU - Waldenberger, Melanie
AU - Peters, Annette
AU - Schwettmann, Lars
AU - Lund, Eiliv
AU - Baccarelli, Andrea
AU - Milne, Roger L.
AU - Kenny, Rose A.
AU - Elbaz, Alexis
AU - Brenner, Hermann
AU - Kee, Frank
AU - Voortman, Trudy
AU - Probst-Hensch, Nicole
AU - Lehtimäki, Terho
AU - Elliott, Paul
AU - Stringhini, Silvia
AU - Severi, Gianluca
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© Fiorito et al.
PY - 2019/4/15
Y1 - 2019/4/15
N2 - Differences in health status by socioeconomic position (SEP) tend to be more evident at older ages, suggesting the involvement of a biological mechanism responsive to the accumulation of deleterious exposures across the lifespan. DNA methylation (DNAm) has been proposed as a biomarker of biological aging that conserves memory of endogenous and exogenous stress during life. We examined the association of education level, as an indicator of SEP, and lifestyle-related variables with four biomarkers of age-dependent DNAm dysregulation: the total number of stochastic epigenetic mutations (SEMs) and three epigenetic clocks (Horvath, Hannum and Levine), in 18 cohorts spanning 12 countries. The four biological aging biomarkers were associated with education and different sets of risk factors independently, and the magnitude of the effects differed depending on the biomarker and the predictor. On average, the effect of low education on epigenetic aging was comparable with those of other lifestyle-related risk factors (obesity, alcohol intake), with the exception of smoking, which had a significantly stronger effect. Our study shows that low education is an independent predictor of accelerated biological (epigenetic) aging and that epigenetic clocks appear to be good candidates for disentangling the biological pathways underlying social inequalities in healthy aging and longevity.
AB - Differences in health status by socioeconomic position (SEP) tend to be more evident at older ages, suggesting the involvement of a biological mechanism responsive to the accumulation of deleterious exposures across the lifespan. DNA methylation (DNAm) has been proposed as a biomarker of biological aging that conserves memory of endogenous and exogenous stress during life. We examined the association of education level, as an indicator of SEP, and lifestyle-related variables with four biomarkers of age-dependent DNAm dysregulation: the total number of stochastic epigenetic mutations (SEMs) and three epigenetic clocks (Horvath, Hannum and Levine), in 18 cohorts spanning 12 countries. The four biological aging biomarkers were associated with education and different sets of risk factors independently, and the magnitude of the effects differed depending on the biomarker and the predictor. On average, the effect of low education on epigenetic aging was comparable with those of other lifestyle-related risk factors (obesity, alcohol intake), with the exception of smoking, which had a significantly stronger effect. Our study shows that low education is an independent predictor of accelerated biological (epigenetic) aging and that epigenetic clocks appear to be good candidates for disentangling the biological pathways underlying social inequalities in healthy aging and longevity.
KW - Biological aging
KW - Education
KW - Epigenetic clocks
KW - Socioeconomic position
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85064485856&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.18632/aging.101900
DO - 10.18632/aging.101900
M3 - Article
C2 - 31009935
AN - SCOPUS:85064485856
SN - 1945-4589
VL - 11
SP - 2045
EP - 2070
JO - Aging
JF - Aging
IS - 7
ER -