One-carbon metabolism-related compounds are associated with epigenetic aging biomarkers: Results from National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 1999-2002.

Background: One-carbon metabolism (OCM), a biochemical pathway dependent on micronutrients including folate and vitamin B12, plays an essential role in aging-related physiological processes. DNA methylation-based aging biomarkers may be influenced by OCM.

Objective: This study investigated associations of OCM-related biomarkers with epigenetic aging biomarkers in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES).

Epigenome-wide association study of perceived discrimination in the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA).

Perceived discrimination, recognized as a chronic psychosocial stressor, has adverse consequences on health. DNA methylation (DNAm) may be a potential mechanism by which stressors get embedded into the human body at the molecular level and subsequently affect health outcomes. However, relatively little is known about the effects of perceived discrimination on DNAm.

Black/White disparities in low birth weight across maternal trajectories of social mobility in South Carolina.

Persistent racial disparities in low birth weight (LBW) in the United States may be better understood through the adoption of a life course perspective that considers differential exposure and vulnerability of Black and White women to socioeconomic position across generations. Using a multigenerational dataset of singleton birth certificates from South Carolina from 1989 to 2020 linked along the maternal line, we constructed intergenerational social mobility trajectories of grandmaternal and maternal education and compared unadjusted and adjusted associations between trajectories and LBW among Black and White women. We found that White women were more likely to be upwardly mobile, and Black women to be downwardly mobile.

Timing of Menarche and Menopause and Epigenetic Aging among U.S. Adults: Results from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 1999-2002.

Reproductive aging, including timing of menarche and menopause, influences long-term morbidity and mortality in women, yet underlying biological mechanisms remain poorly understood. Using DNA methylation-based biomarkers, we assessed associations of age at menarche (N=1,033) and menopause (N=658) with epigenetic aging in a nationally representative sample of women ≥50 years. Later age at menopause was associated with lower GrimAge epigenetic age deviation ( = -0.

Epigenome-wide mediation analysis of the relationship between psychosocial stress and cardiometabolic risk factors in the Health and Retirement Study (HRS).

Background: Exposure to psychosocial stress is linked to a variety of negative health outcomes, including cardiovascular disease and its cardiometabolic risk factors. DNA methylation has been associated with both psychosocial stress and cardiometabolic disease; however, little is known about the mediating role of DNA methylation on the association between stress and cardiometabolic risk. Thus, using the high-dimensional mediation testing method, we conducted an epigenome-wide mediation analysis of the relationship between psychosocial stress and ten cardiometabolic risk factors in a multi-racial/ethnic population of older adults (n = 2668) from the Health and Retirement Study (mean age = 70.