Title: Accelerated DNA methylation age and the use of antihypertensive medication among older adults.

Authors: Gao, Xu; Colicino, Elena; Shen, Jincheng; Just, Allan C; Nwanaji-Enwerem, Jamaji C; Wang, Cuicui; Coull, Brent; Lin, Xihong; Vokonas, Pantel; Zheng, Yinan; Hou, Lifang; Schwartz, Joel; Baccarelli, Andrea A

Published In Aging (Albany NY), (2018 11 10)

Abstract: The discrepancy of DNA methylation age (DNAmAge) with chronological age (termed as age acceleration, AA) has been identified to be associated with many aging-related health outcomes including hypertension. Since taking antihypertensive medication (AHM) could prevent aging-related diseases caused by hypertension, we hypothesized that using AHM could also reduce the AA. We examined this hypothesis among 546 males aged 55-85 years by exploring the associations of AHM use with AA and its change rate (ΔAA) in two visits with a median follow-up of 3.86 years. Horvath DNAmAge was derived from DNA methylation profiles measured by Illumina HumanMethylation450 BeadChip and information on AHM use was collected by physician interview. A general decreasing pattern of AA was observed between the two visits. After the fully adjusting for potential covariates including hypertension, any AHM use showed a cross-sectional significant association with higher AA at each visit, as well as a longitudinal association with increased ΔAA between visits. Particularly, relative to participants who never took any AHM, individuals with continuous AHM use had a higher ΔAA of 0.6 year/chronological year. This finding underlines that DNAmAge and AA may not be able to capture the preventive effects of AHMs that reduce cardiovascular risks and mortality.

PubMed ID: 30414594

MeSH Terms: Aged; Aging*; Antihypertensive Agents/classification; Antihypertensive Agents/therapeutic use*; DNA Methylation/physiology*; Humans; Hypertension/drug therapy*