Abstract
BackgroundCardiovascular 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 resultsWe 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).ConclusionsThese cross-sectional observations suggest a possible mechanism by which ideal CVH is associated with greater longevity.
Highlights
In 2010, the American Heart Association defined the construct of ideal cardiovascular health (CVH) as the simultaneous presence of 7 ideal health factors: healthy diet, absence of smoking, healthy body mass index (BMI), and optimal levels of physical activity, blood pressure, Pottinger et al Clin Epigenet (2021) 13:42Epigenetic changes in patterns of DNA methylation are suggested as a promising mechanism, and epigenetic aging as an important surrogate biomarker, in the research of aging, mortality, and chronic disease risk [5]
These cross-sectional observations suggest a possible mechanism by which ideal Cardiovascular health (CVH) is associated with greater longevity
We investigated the relationship between CVH and epigenetic age acceleration by leveraging an epidemiological cohort with objective assessment of CVH and blood DNA methylation data
Summary
Epigenetic changes in patterns of DNA methylation are suggested as a promising mechanism, and epigenetic aging as an important surrogate biomarker, in the research of aging, mortality, and chronic disease risk [5]. We investigated the relationship between CVH and epigenetic age acceleration by leveraging an epidemiological cohort with objective assessment of CVH and blood DNA methylation data. DNA methylation markers of aging have been aggregated into a composite epigenetic age score, which is associated with cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. It is unknown whether poor CVH is associated with acceleration of aging as measured by DNA methylation markers in epigenetic age
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