A recent research paper was published in Aging (listed as “Aging (Albany NY)” by MEDLINE/PubMed and “Aging-US” by Web of Science) Volume 14, Issue 23, entitled, “DNA methylation-based measures of biological aging and cognitive decline over 16-years: preliminary longitudinal findings in midlife.”

DNA methylation-based (DNAm) measures of biological aging associate with increased risk of morbidity and mortality, but their links with cognitive decline are less established.

On this recent study, researchers Rebecca G. Reed, Judith E. Carroll, Anna L. Marsland, and Stephen B. Manuck from the University of Pittsburgh and the University of California examined changes over a 16-year interval in epigenetic clocks (the normal and principal components [PC]-based Horvath, Hannum, PhenoAge, GrimAge) and pace of aging measures (Dunedin PoAm, Dunedin PACE) in 48 midlife adults enrolled within the longitudinal arm of the Adult Health and Behavior project (56% Female, baseline AgeM = 44.7 years), chosen for discrepant cognitive trajectories.

“We hypothesized that overall, cognitive Decliners can be biologically older in comparison with cognitive Maintainers.”

Cognitive Decliners (N = 24) were chosen based on declines in a composite rating derived from neuropsychological tests and matched with participants who didn’t show any decline, Maintainers (N = 24). Multilevel models with repeated DNAm measures inside person tested the fundamental effects of time, group, and group by time interactions. DNAm measures significantly increased over time generally consistent with elapsed time between study visits.

There have been also group differences: overall, Cognitive Decliners had an older PC-GrimAge and faster pace of aging (Dunedin PoAm, Dunedin PACE) than Cognitive Maintainers. There have been no significant group by time interactions, suggesting accelerated epigenetic aging in Decliners remained constant over time. Older PC-GrimAge and faster pace of aging could also be particularly sensitive to cognitive decline in midlife.

“In conclusion, these preliminary results suggest PC-GrimAge and DNAm based pace of aging measures (Dunedin PoAm and PACE) associate with 16-year, neuropsychologically-validated cognitive decline in midlife. The outcomes warrant a larger-scale study to higher examine longitudinal associations between changes in DNAm measures and changes across multiple cognitive domains. Ultimately, establishing DNAm measures as biomarkers of cognitive function in midlife may offer pre-clinical markers of a molecular aging mechanism that might help discover individuals at increased risk for cognitive impairment and dementia in later life.”

Source:

Journal reference:

Reed, R.G., et al. (2022) DNA methylation-based measures of biological aging and cognitive decline over 16-years: preliminary longitudinal findings in midlife. Aging-US. doi.org/10.18632/aging.204376.