A Catalogue of Omics Biological Ageing Clocks Reveals Substantial Commonality and Associations with Disease Risk

Overview

Journal Aging (Albany NY)

Specialty Geriatrics

Date 2022 Jan 24

PMID 35073279

Authors

Erin Macdonald-Dunlop

Nele Taba

Lucija Klaric

Azra Frkatovic

Rosie Walker

Caroline Hayward

Tonu Esko

Chris Haley

Krista Fischer

James F Wilson

Peter K Joshi

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Biological age (BA), a measure of functional capacity and prognostic of health outcomes that discriminates between individuals of the same chronological age (chronAge), has been estimated using a variety of biomarkers. Previous comparative studies have mainly used epigenetic models (clocks), we use ~1000 participants to compare fifteen omics ageing clocks, with correlations of 0.21-0.97 with chronAge, even with substantial sub-setting of biomarkers. These clocks track common aspects of ageing with 95% of the variance in chronAge being shared among clocks. The difference between BA and chronAge - omics clock age acceleration (OCAA) - often associates with health measures. One year's OCAA typically has the same effect on risk factors/10-year disease incidence as 0.09/0.25 years of chronAge. Epigenetic and IgG glycomics clocks appeared to track generalised ageing while others capture specific risks. We conclude BA is measurable and prognostic and that future work should prioritise health outcomes over chronAge.

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