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Review
. 2021 Sep 26:7:23337214211046419.
doi: 10.1177/23337214211046419. eCollection 2021 Jan-Dec.

Predictors of Biological Age: The Implications for Wellness and Aging Research

Trevor Lohman  1 , Gurinder Bains  1 , Lee Berk  1 , Everett Lohman  1
Affiliations
Review

Predictors of Biological Age: The Implications for Wellness and Aging Research

Trevor Lohman et al. Gerontol Geriatr Med. .

Abstract

As healthspan and lifespan research breakthroughs have become more commonplace, the need for valid, practical markers of biological age is becoming increasingly paramount. The accessibility and affordability of biological age predictors that can reveal information about mortality and morbidity risk, as well as remaining years of life, has profound clinical and research implications. In this review, we examine 5 groups of aging biomarkers capable of providing accurate biological age estimations. The unique capabilities of these biomarkers have far reaching implications for the testing of both pharmaceutical and non-pharmaceutical interventions designed to slow or reverse biological aging. Additionally, the enhanced validity and availability of these tools may have increasingly relevant clinical value. The authors of this review explore those implications, with an emphasis on lifestyle modification research, and provide an overview of the current evidence regarding 5 biological age predictor categories: Telomere length, composite biomarkers, DNA methylation "epigenetic clocks," transcriptional predictors of biological age, and functional age predictors.

Keywords: aging; biogerontology; cardiovascular diseases and risk; cellular processes; chronic diseases; frailty; genetics.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of conflicting interests: The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

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