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Alcohol consumption changes the ageing clock
Alcohol consumption changes the ageing clock
A study by researchers at Yale School of Medicine in the United States utilised five different epigenetic clocks, a measure of an individual’s biological age, and examined the effects of varying levels of alcohol consumption on biological age.
The study was conducted in over 2,000 individuals, including both healthy participants and people living with HIV. The results, published in Alcoholism – Clinical and experimental research, show that the clock ticks faster among heavy alcohol drinkers but slower among light to moderate drinkers.
“A nonlinear relationship between alcohol consumption and epigenetic age is very interesting. It suggests a complicated effect of alcohol use on health,” said Dr Ke Xu, associate professor of psychiatry and a senior author on the paper.
Five clocks derived from different tissues and different aging related factors show similar patterns. One novel clock that is built from DNA modifications in monocytes, which was developed by Xu’s group, shows the strongest association with alcohol consumption and epigenetic age. Monocytes play an important role in inflammation and aging process.
Dr Rajita Sinha, Foundations Fund Professor of Psychiatry and Professor in the Child Study Centre and of Neuroscience, and a co-author on the study said, “Heavy alcohol drinking might change the aging clock before one develops medical disease. The finding highlights the impact of lifestyle factors on health and their importance for preventing alcohol use related medical comorbidities,”
Dr Amy Justice, CNH Long Professor of Medicine and Professor of Public Health, commented that a biomarker of alcohol consumption, PEth, but not self-reported alcohol use, showed an association with epigenetic aging among the same people from the Veteran Aging Cohort Study.
medicine.yale.edu/news-article/yale-study-alcohol-consumption-changes-the-aging-clock/
Source: Liang, X., Sinha, R., Justice, A.C., Cohen, M.H., Aouizerat, B.E. & Xu, K. (2022) A new monocyte epigenetic clock reveals nonlinear effects of alcohol consumption on biological aging in three independent cohorts (N = 2242). Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, 00, 1– 13. doi.org/10.1111/acer.14803
A study by researchers at Yale School of Medicine in the United States utilised five different epigenetic clocks, a measure of an individual’s biological age, and examined the effects of varying levels of alcohol consumption on biological age.
The study was conducted in over 2,000 individuals, including both healthy participants and people living with HIV. The results, published in Alcoholism – Clinical and experimental research, show that the clock ticks faster among heavy alcohol drinkers but slower among light to moderate drinkers.
“A nonlinear relationship between alcohol consumption and epigenetic age is very interesting. It suggests a complicated effect of alcohol use on health,” said Dr Ke Xu, associate professor of psychiatry and a senior author on the paper.
Five clocks derived from different tissues and different aging related factors show similar patterns. One novel clock that is built from DNA modifications in monocytes, which was developed by Xu’s group, shows the strongest association with alcohol consumption and epigenetic age. Monocytes play an important role in inflammation and aging process.
Dr Rajita Sinha, Foundations Fund Professor of Psychiatry and Professor in the Child Study Centre and of Neuroscience, and a co-author on the study said, “Heavy alcohol drinking might change the aging clock before one develops medical disease. The finding highlights the impact of lifestyle factors on health and their importance for preventing alcohol use related medical comorbidities,”
Dr Amy Justice, CNH Long Professor of Medicine and Professor of Public Health, commented that a biomarker of alcohol consumption, PEth, but not self-reported alcohol use, showed an association with epigenetic aging among the same people from the Veteran Aging Cohort Study.
medicine.yale.edu/news-article/yale-study-alcohol-consumption-changes-the-aging-clock/
Source: Liang, X., Sinha, R., Justice, A.C., Cohen, M.H., Aouizerat, B.E. & Xu, K. (2022) A new monocyte epigenetic clock reveals nonlinear effects of alcohol consumption on biological aging in three independent cohorts (N = 2242). Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, 00, 1– 13. doi.org/10.1111/acer.14803
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