Work

Gut microbiota and epigenetic age acceleration: a bi-directional Mendelian randomization study

Year: 2024

Type: article

Abstract: Background The gut microbiota is closely related to aging, but the genetic relationship between gut microbiota and aging has not been well investigated. The aim of the study was to explore the association of microbiota with epigenetic age acceleration (EAA) using the Mendelian randomization. Method The independent genetic instruments of gut microbiota were obtained from MiBioGen consortium and the Dutch Microbiome Project. EAA data were derived from genome-wide association study. To assess the causal relationship between gut microbiota and EAA, we applied four different methods of Mendelian Randomization (MR) analysis: the inverse variance weighted method (IVW), the MR-Egger regression, the weighted median analysis (WMA), and the weighted mode. Furthermore, sensitivity analyses were conducted to evaluate heterogeneity and horizontal pleiotropy. Results We identified potential causal associations between 12 bacterial taxa and EAA (PIVW and PWMA < 0.05). Among them, species Holdemania_unclassified (OR: 1.31, 95% CI: 1.13–1.52, P = 0.0004) retained a strong positive association with GrimAge acceleration. Family Acidaminococcaceae (OR: 0.64, 95% CI: 0.44–0.93, P = 0.019) and family Clostridiaceae1 (OR: 0.69, 95% CI: 0.49–0.97 P = 0.031) were negative association with GrimAge acceleration. Reverse MR analyses indicated that EAA was associated with 6 bacterial taxa in IVW and WMA. Among them, a strong inverse association was found between Phenoage acceleration and genus Turicibacter (OR: 0.928, 95%CI: 0.888–0.971, PIVW and PWMA < 0.001). Conclusion Our study implicates the potential causal effects of specific microbiota on EAA, potentially providing novel insights into the prevention aging through specific gut microbiota.

Source: Aging Clinical and Experimental Research

DOI: 10.1007/s40520-024-02877-6

Authors: Han Xu, Ouyang Li, Dayoung Kim, Zhijun Bao, Fan Yang

Institutions: Fudan University, Huadong Hospital

Language: English

Topic: Gut microbiota and health

Subfield: Molecular Biology

Field: Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology

Domain: Life Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $4,290