Does polypharmacy affect epigenetic aging in older people? Evidence from a longitudinal epigenome-wide methylation study.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Polypharmacy, defined as taking ≥ 5 different daily medications, is common in older adults and has been linked with neuropsychiatric/neurological and other health conditions. To clarify the potential molecular implications, we tested the hypothesis that polypharmacy may influence DNA methylation (DNAm) patterns in aging, in a longitudinal Italian cohort (N = 1,098; mean (SD) age at recruitment: 58.8 (5.6) years, 51.3% women; median (IQR) follow-up 12.6 (1.1) years).

Results

We tested associations of polypharmacy with several DNAm aging clocks (Hannum, Horvath, GrimAge, DNAmPhenoAge, DunedinPACE), through linear mixed models incrementally adjusted for age, sex, education, prevalent health conditions and lifestyles, leukocyte counts and residual batch effects. This

SUBMITTER: Gialluisi A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12619211 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature