University Library
  • Login
A gateway to Melbourne's research publications
Minerva Access is the University's Institutional Repository. It aims to collect, preserve, and showcase the intellectual output of staff and students of the University of Melbourne for a global audience.
View Item 
  • Minerva Access
  • Medicine, Dentistry & Health Sciences
  • Melbourne School of Population and Global Health
  • Melbourne School of Population and Global Health - Research Publications
  • View Item
  • Minerva Access
  • Medicine, Dentistry & Health Sciences
  • Melbourne School of Population and Global Health
  • Melbourne School of Population and Global Health - Research Publications
  • View Item
JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.

    Genetic and environmental causes of variation in epigenetic aging across the lifespan

    Thumbnail
    Download
    Published version (2.525Mb)

    Citations
    Altmetric
    Author
    Li, S; Nguyen, TL; Wong, EM; Dugue, P-A; Dite, GS; Armstrong, NJ; Craig, JM; Mather, KA; Sachdev, PS; Saffery, R; ...
    Date
    2020-10-22
    Source Title
    Clinical Epigenetics
    Publisher
    BMC
    University of Melbourne Author/s
    Nguyen, Tuong; Hopper, John; Dite, Gillian; Milne, Roger; Giles, Graham; Southey, Melissa; Saffery, Richard; Li, Shuai; Dugue, Pierre-Antoine; Wong, Ee Ming; ...
    Affiliation
    Melbourne School of Population and Global Health
    Clinical Pathology
    Paediatrics (RCH)
    Metadata
    Show full item record
    Document Type
    Journal Article
    Citations
    Li, S., Nguyen, T. L., Wong, E. M., Dugue, P. -A., Dite, G. S., Armstrong, N. J., Craig, J. M., Mather, K. A., Sachdev, P. S., Saffery, R., Sung, J., Tan, Q., Thalamuthu, A., Milne, R. L., Giles, G. G., Southey, M. C. & Hopper, J. L. (2020). Genetic and environmental causes of variation in epigenetic aging across the lifespan. CLINICAL EPIGENETICS, 12 (1), https://doi.org/10.1186/s13148-020-00950-1.
    Access Status
    Open Access
    URI
    http://hdl.handle.net/11343/252942
    DOI
    10.1186/s13148-020-00950-1
    Abstract
    BACKGROUND: DNA methylation-based biological age (DNAm age) is an important biomarker for adult health. Studies in specific age ranges have found widely varying results about its genetic and environmental causes of variation. However, these studies are not able to provide a comprehensive view of the causes of variation over the lifespan. RESULTS: In order to investigate the genetic and environmental causes of DNAm age variation across the lifespan, we pooled genome-wide DNA methylation data for 4217 people aged 0-92 years from 1871 families. DNAm age was calculated using the Horvath epigenetic clock. We estimated familial correlations in DNAm age for monozygotic (MZ) twin, dizygotic (DZ) twin, sibling, parent-offspring, and spouse pairs by cohabitation status. Genetic and environmental variance components models were fitted and compared. We found that twin pair correlations were - 0.12 to 0.18 around birth, not different from zero (all P > 0.29). For all pairs of relatives, their correlations increased with time spent living together (all P < 0.02) at different rates (MZ > DZ and siblings > parent-offspring; P < 0.001) and decreased with time spent living apart (P = 0.02) at similar rates. These correlation patterns were best explained by cohabitation-dependent shared environmental factors, the effects of which were 1.41 (95% confidence interval [CI] 1.16 to 1.66) times greater for MZ pairs than for DZ and sibling pairs, and the latter were 2.03 (95% CI 1.13 to 9.47) times greater than for parent-offspring pairs. Genetic factors explained 13% (95% CI - 10 to 35%) of variation (P = 0.27). Similar results were found for another two epigenetic clocks, suggesting that our observations are robust to how DNAm age is measured. In addition, results for the other clocks were consistent with there also being a role for prenatal environmental factors in determining their variation. CONCLUSIONS: Variation in DNAm age is mostly caused by environmental factors, including those shared to different extents by relatives while living together and whose effects persist into old age. The equal environment assumption of the classic twin study might not hold for epigenetic aging.

    Export Reference in RIS Format     

    Endnote

    • Click on "Export Reference in RIS Format" and choose "open with... Endnote".

    Refworks

    • Click on "Export Reference in RIS Format". Login to Refworks, go to References => Import References


    Collections
    • Minerva Elements Records [45770]
    • Paediatrics (RCH) - Research Publications [1852]
    • Clinical Pathology - Research Publications [385]
    • Melbourne School of Population and Global Health - Research Publications [4369]
    Minerva AccessDepositing Your Work (for University of Melbourne Staff and Students)NewsFAQs

    BrowseCommunities & CollectionsBy Issue DateAuthorsTitlesSubjectsThis CollectionBy Issue DateAuthorsTitlesSubjects
    My AccountLoginRegister
    StatisticsMost Popular ItemsStatistics by CountryMost Popular Authors