Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33722199›Full record

ArticleBMC genomics2021

Correction for both common and rare cell types in blood is important to identify genes that correlate with age.

Damiano Pellegrino-Coppola, Annique Claringbould, Maartje Stutvoet, BIOS Consortium, Dorret I Boomsma, M Arfan Ikram, P Eline Slagboom, Harm-Jan Westra, Lude Franke

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in BMC genomics, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
6citing papers in PubMed
1.2field-weighted citation impact, top 20% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

6 citing papers in PubMed, 10 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Article
  6. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.

Damiano Pellegrino-Coppola *Department of Genetics, University Medical Centre Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.
Annique Claringbould *Department of Genetics, University Medical Centre Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.
Maartje StutvoetDepartment of Genetics, University Medical Centre Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.
BIOS Consortium
Dorret I BoomsmaDepartment of Biological Psychology, Netherlands Twin Register, Amsterdam Public Health research institute and Amsterdam Neuroscience, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
M Arfan IkramDepartment of Epidemiology, Erasmus University Medical Centre, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
P Eline SlagboomDepartment of Biomedical Data Sciences, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands.
Harm-Jan WestraDepartment of Genetics, University Medical Centre Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.
Lude FrankeDepartment of Genetics, University Medical Centre Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands. ludefranke@gmail.com.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5159-8802
University Medical Center Groningen · NLAmsterdam Neuroscience · NLErasmus University Rotterdam · NLLeiden University Medical Center · NL

Funding

European Research Council 637640ZonMw 917.14.374
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundAging is a multifactorial process that affects multiple tissues and is characterized by changes in homeostasis over time, leading to increased morbidity. Whole blood gene expression signatures have been associated with aging and have been used to gain information on its biological mechanisms, which are still not fully understood. However, blood is composed of many cell types whose proportions in blood vary with age. As a result, previously observed associations between gene expression levels and aging might be driven by cell type composition rather than intracellular aging mechanisms. To overcome this, previous aging studies already accounted for major cell types, but the possibility that the reported associations are false positives driven by less prevalent cell subtypes remains.

resultsHere, we compared the regression model from our previous work to an extended model that corrects for 33 additional white blood cell subtypes. Both models were applied to whole blood gene expression data from 3165 individuals belonging to the general population (age range of 18-81 years). We evaluated that the new model is a better fit for the data and it identified fewer genes associated with aging (625, compared to the 2808 of the initial model; P ≤ 2.5⨯10

conclusionsWe conclude that gene expression analyses in blood strongly benefit from correction for both common and rare blood cell types, and recommend using blood-cell count estimates as standard covariates when studying whole blood gene expression.

Indexed as

AgingTranscriptomeAdolescentAdultAgedAged, 80 and overHumansMiddle AgedYoung AdultAgingCell counts correctionGene expressionPlatelet activityWhole blood

Identifiers

PMID33722199
PMCPMC7958454
OpenAlexW3137361627

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.