Association of Neighborhood Deprivation With Epigenetic Aging Using 4 Clock Metrics

Importance

Neighborhood deprivation is associated with age-related disease, mortality, and reduced life expectancy. However, biological pathways underlying these associations are not well understood.

Objective

To evaluate the association between neighborhood deprivation and epigenetic measures of age acceleration and genome-wide methylation.

Design, Setting, and Participants

This cross-sectional study used data from the Sister Study, a prospective cohort study comprising 50 884 women living in the US and Puerto Rico aged 35 to 74 years at enrollment who had a sister with breast cancer but had not had breast cancer themselves. Cohort enrollment occurred between July 2003 and March 2009. Participants completed a computer-assisted telephone interview on demographic, socioeconomic, lifestyle, and residential factors and provided anthropometric measures and peripheral blood samples at a home examination. DNA methylation data obtained for 2630 non-Hispanic White women selected for a case-cohort study in 2014 were used in this cross-sectional analysis. DNA methylation was measured using the HumanMethylation450 BeadChips in whole blood samples collected at baseline. Data analysis for this study was performed from October 17, 2019, to August 27, 2020.

Exposures

Each participants’ primary address was linked to an established index of neighborhood deprivation.

Main Outcomes and Measures

Epigenetic age was estimated using 4 epigenetic clocks (Horvath, Hannum, PhenoAge, and GrimAge). Age acceleration was determined using residuals from regressing chronologic age on each of the 4 epigenetic age metrics. Linear regression was used to estimate associations between neighborhood deprivation and epigenetic age acceleration as well as DNA methylation at individual cytosine-guanine sites across the genome.

Results

Mean (SD) age of the 2630 participants was 56.9 (8.7) years. Those with the greatest (>75th percentile) vs least (≤25th percentile) neighborhood deprivation had higher epigenetic age acceleration estimated by Hannum (β = 0.23; 95% CI, 0.01-0.45), PhenoAge (β = 0.28; 95% CI, 0.06-.50), and GrimAge (β = 0.37; 95% CI, 0.12-0.62). Increasing US quartiles of neighborhood deprivation exhibited a trend with Hannum, PhenoAge, and GrimAge. For example, GrimAge showed a significant dose-response (Ptest for trend <.001) as follows: level 2 vs level 1 (β = 0.30; 95% CI, 0.17-0.42), level 3 vs level 1 (β = 0.35; 95% CI, 0.19-0.50), and level 4 vs level 1 (β = 0.37; 95% CI, 0.12-0.62). Neighborhood deprivation was found to be associated with 3 cytosine-phosphate-guanine sites, with 1 of these annotated to a known geneMAOB(P = 9.71 × 10⁻⁰⁸).

Conclusions and Relevance

The findings of this study suggest that residing in a neighborhood with a higher deprivation index appears to be reflected by methylation-based markers of aging.