Alcohol and aging: Next-generation epigenetic clocks predict biological age acceleration in individuals with alcohol use disorder.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Chronic heavy alcohol use is a major risk factor for premature aging and age-related diseases. DNA methylation (DNAm)-based epigenetic clocks are novel tools for predicting biological age. However, the newest configurations, causality-enriched epigenetic clocks, have not been assessed in the context of alcohol consumption and alcohol use disorder (AUD).

Methods

Epigenetic aging was evaluated in a sample of 615 individuals (372 AUD patients and 243 healthy controls) by applying the GrimAge Version 1 (V1) and Version 2 (V2) clocks alongside three causality-enriched clocks (CausAge, DamAge, and AdaptAge). A linear model controlling for AUD diagnosis, sex, race, BMI, smoking status, and five blood cell types was leveraged to test associations between alcohol-related m

SUBMITTER: Perlstein TA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12012873 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature