Evidence map›Paper›PMID 38987783›Full record

ArticleBMC medicine2024

Five years of change in adult twins: longitudinal changes of genetic and environmental influence on epigenetic clocks.

Ke Miao, Shunkai Liu, Weihua Cao, Jun Lv, Canqing Yu, Tao Huang, Dianjianyi Sun, Chunxiao Liao, Yuanjie Pang, Runhua Hu and 7 more

Abstract readTwin Study
In one paragraph

Article in BMC medicine, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
8citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
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

8 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Review
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Article
  6. Review
  7. Epigenetic Clocks Relate to 4 Age-related Health Outcomes Similarly Across 3 Countries.The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences · 2025
    Article
  8. 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

17 authors.

Ke MiaoDepartment of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Peking University, Beijing, 100191, China.
Shunkai LiuDepartment of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Peking University, Beijing, 100191, China.
Weihua CaoDepartment of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Peking University, Beijing, 100191, China.
Jun LvDepartment of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Peking University, Beijing, 100191, China.
Canqing YuDepartment of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Peking University, Beijing, 100191, China.
Tao HuangDepartment of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Peking University, Beijing, 100191, China.
Dianjianyi SunDepartment of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Peking University, Beijing, 100191, China.
Chunxiao LiaoDepartment of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Peking University, Beijing, 100191, China.
Yuanjie PangDepartment of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Peking University, Beijing, 100191, China.
Runhua HuDepartment of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Peking University, Beijing, 100191, China.
Zengchang PangQingdao Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Qingdao, China.
Min YuZhejiang Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Hangzhou, China.
Hua WangJiangsu Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Nanjing, China.
Xianping WuSichuan Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Chengdu, China.
Yu LiuHeilongjiang Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Harbin, China.
Wenjing GaoDepartment of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Peking University, Beijing, 100191, China. pkuepigwj@126.com.
Liming LiDepartment of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Peking University, Beijing, 100191, China. lmlee@vip.163.com.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundEpigenetic clocks were known as promising biomarkers of aging, including original clocks trained by individual CpG sites and principal component (PC) clocks trained by PCs of CpG sites. The effects of genetic and environmental factors on epigenetic clocks are still unclear, especially for PC clocks.

methodsWe constructed univariate twin models in 477 same-sex twin pairs from the Chinese National Twin Registry (CNTR) to estimate the heritability of five epigenetic clocks (GrimAge, PhenoAge, DunedinPACE, PCGrimAge, and PCPhenoAge). Besides, we investigated the longitudinal changes of genetic and environmental influences on epigenetic clocks across 5 years in 134 same-sex twin pairs.

resultsHeritability of epigenetic clocks ranged from 0.45 to 0.70, and those for PC clocks were higher than those for original clocks. For five epigenetic clocks, the longitudinal stability was moderate to high and was largely due to genetic effects. The genetic correlations between baseline and follow-up epigenetic clocks were moderate to high. Special unique environmental factors emerged both at baseline and at follow-up. PC clocks showed higher longitudinal stability and unique environmental correlations than original clocks.

conclusionsFor five epigenetic clocks, they have the potential to identify aging interventions. High longitudinal stability is mainly due to genetic factors, and changes of epigenetic clocks over time are primarily due to changes in unique environmental factors. Given the disparities in genetic and environmental factors as well as longitudinal stability between PC and original clocks, the results of studies with original clocks need to be further verified with PC clocks.

Indexed as

Epigenesis, GeneticAdultAgedAgingChinaDNA MethylationFemaleGene-Environment InteractionHumansLongitudinal StudiesMaleMiddle AgedTwinsAgingEpigenetic clockHeritabilityTwin

Identifiers

PMID38987783
PMCPMC11234599

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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.