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. 2021 Feb 25;13(1):42.
doi: 10.1186/s13148-021-01028-2.

Association of cardiovascular health and epigenetic age acceleration

Tess D Pottinger  1   2 , Sadiya S Khan  3   4 , Yinan Zheng  3 , Wei Zhang  3 , Hilary A Tindle  5   6 , Matthew Allison  7 , Gretchen Wells  8 , Aladdin H Shadyab  7 , Rami Nassir  9 , Lisa Warsinger Martin  10 , JoAnn E Manson  11 , Donald M Lloyd-Jones  3 , Philip Greenland  3 , Andrea A Baccarelli  12 , Eric A Whitsel  13   14 , Lifang Hou  3
Affiliations

Association of cardiovascular health and epigenetic age acceleration

Tess D Pottinger et al. Clin Epigenetics. .

Abstract

Background: Cardiovascular health (CVH) has been defined by the American Heart Association (AHA) as the presence of the "Life's Simple 7" ideal lifestyle and clinical factors. CVH is known to predict longevity and freedom from cardiovascular disease, the leading cause of death for women in the United States. DNA methylation markers of aging have been aggregated into a composite epigenetic age score, which is associated with cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. However, it is unknown whether poor CVH is associated with acceleration of aging as measured by DNA methylation markers in epigenetic age.

Methods and results: We performed a cross-sectional analysis of racially/ethnically diverse post-menopausal women enrolled in the Women's Health Initiative cohort recruited between 1993 and 1998. Epigenetic age acceleration (EAA) was calculated using DNA methylation data on a subset of participants and the published Horvath and Hannum methods for intrinsic and extrinsic EAA. CVH was calculated using the AHA measures of CVH contributing to a 7-point score. We examined the association between CVH score and EAA using linear regression modeling adjusting for self-reported race/ethnicity and education. Among the 2,170 participants analyzed, 50% were white and mean age was 64 (7 SD) years. Higher or more favorable CVH scores were associated with lower extrinsic EAA (~ 6 months younger age per 1 point higher CVH score, p < 0.0001), and lower intrinsic EAA (3 months younger age per 1 point higher CVH score, p < 0.028).

Conclusions: These cross-sectional observations suggest a possible mechanism by which ideal CVH is associated with greater longevity.

Keywords: Cardiovascular health (CVH); DNA methylation; Epigenetic age acceleration; Simple seven; Women’s health initiative (WHI).

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Flow diagram of individuals included for the analysis of cardiovascular health and epigenetic age acceleration
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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