Neighborhood environment, social cohesion, and epigenetic aging.

Chantel L Martin,Cavin K Ward-Caviness,Sandro Galea,Monica Uddin,Tarek M Zikry,Radhika Dhingra,Derek E Wildman,Allison E Aiello,Karestan C Koenen

doi:10.18632/aging.202814

Abstract

Living in adverse neighborhood environments has been linked to risk of aging-related diseases and mortality; however, the biological mechanisms explaining this observation remain poorly understood. DNA methylation (DNAm), a proposed mechanism and biomarker of biological aging responsive to environmental stressors, offers promising insight into potential molecular pathways. We examined associations between three neighborhood social environment measures (poverty, quality, and social cohesion) and three epigenetic clocks (Horvath, Hannum, and PhenoAge) using data from the Detroit Neighborhood Health Study (n=158). Using linear regression models, we evaluated associations in the total sample and stratified by sex and social cohesion. Neighborhood quality was associated with accelerated DNAm aging for Horvath age acceleration (β = 1.8; 95% CI: 0.4, 3.1), Hannum age acceleration (β = 1.7; 95% CI: 0.4, 3.0), and PhenoAge acceleration (β = 2.1; 95% CI: 0.4, 3.8). In models stratified on social cohesion, associations of neighborhood poverty and quality with accelerated DNAm aging remained elevated for residents living in neighborhoods with lower social cohesion, but were null for those living in neighborhoods with higher social cohesion. Our study suggests that living in adverse neighborhood environments can speed up epigenetic aging, while positive neighborhood attributes may buffer effects.

Highlights

Inequalities in aging-related health and mortality by aspects of the neighborhood environment are consistently demonstrated in the literature, independent of individual-level socioeconomic position [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8]
We found that associations between PC7 and DNA methylation (DNAm) age acceleration remained elevated for participants living in neighborhoods with lower social cohesion
In this study of predominately Black adults living in Detroit, we observed evidence of potential links between aspects of the neighborhood social environment and accelerated DNAm aging that were primarily driven by associations in women

Summary

Introduction

Inequalities in aging-related health and mortality by aspects of the neighborhood environment are consistently demonstrated in the literature, independent of individual-level socioeconomic position [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8]. Chronic elevated stress can detrimentally affect on multiple body systems, including inflammatory, cardiovascular, and neuroendocrine. This cumulative biological wear and tear, or aging, is widely known as allostatic load [14]. It is possible that molecular biomarkers, such as DNAm, are useful early indicators of neighborhood quality-related health and aging effects

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Conclusion