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Open Access 01-11-2021 | Epigenetics | Original Article

Impact of excessive alcohol abuse on age prediction using the VISAGE enhanced tool for epigenetic age estimation in blood

Authors: Danuta Piniewska-Róg, Antonia Heidegger, Ewelina Pośpiech, Catarina Xavier, Aleksandra Pisarek, Agata Jarosz, Anna Woźniak, Marta Wojtas, Christopher Phillips, Manfred Kayser, Walther Parson, Wojciech Branicki, the VISAGE Consortium

Published in: International Journal of Legal Medicine | Issue 6/2021

Abstract

DNA methylation-based clocks provide the most accurate age estimates with practical implications for clinical and forensic genetics. However, the effects of external factors that may influence the estimates are poorly studied. Here, we evaluated the effect of alcohol consumption on epigenetic age prediction in a cohort of extreme alcohol abusers. Blood samples from deceased alcohol abusers and age- and sex-matched controls were analyzed using the VISAGE enhanced tool for age prediction from somatic tissues that enables examination of 44 CpGs within eight age markers. Significantly altered DNA methylation was recorded for alcohol abusers in MIR29B2CHG. This resulted in a mean predicted age of 1.4 years higher compared to the controls and this trend increased in older individuals. The association of alcohol abuse with epigenetic age acceleration, as determined by the prediction analysis performed based on MIR29B2CHG, was small but significant (β = 0.190; P-value = 0.007). However, the observed alteration in DNA methylation of MIR29B2CHG had a non-significant effect on age estimation with the VISAGE age prediction model. The mean absolute error in the alcohol-abusing cohort was 3.1 years, compared to 3.3 years in the control group. At the same time, upregulation of MIR29B2CHG expression may have a biological function, which merits further studies.

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Title: Impact of excessive alcohol abuse on age prediction using the VISAGE enhanced tool for epigenetic age estimation in blood
Authors: Danuta Piniewska-Róg
Antonia Heidegger
Ewelina Pośpiech
Catarina Xavier
Aleksandra Pisarek
Agata Jarosz
Anna Woźniak
Marta Wojtas
Christopher Phillips
Manfred Kayser
Walther Parson
Wojciech Branicki
the VISAGE Consortium
Publication date: 01-11-2021
Publisher: Springer Berlin Heidelberg
Keyword: Epigenetics
Published in: International Journal of Legal Medicine / Issue 6/2021
Print ISSN: 0937-9827
Electronic ISSN: 1437-1596
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00414-021-02665-1

Keynote webinar | Spotlight on medication adherence

Springer Medicine

Impact of excessive alcohol abuse on age prediction using the VISAGE enhanced tool for epigenetic age estimation in blood

Abstract

Keynote webinar | Spotlight on medication adherence

Springer Medicine

Abstract

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