Abstract
Bipolar disorder (BD) has been previously associated with accelerated aging; yet, the mechanisms underlying this association are largely unknown. The epigenetic clock has been increasingly recognized as a valuable aging marker, although its association with other biological clocks in BD patients and high-risk subjects, such as telomere length and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) copy number, has never been investigated. We included 22 patients with BD I, 16 siblings of BD patients, and 20 healthy controls in this analysis. DNA was isolated from peripheral blood and interrogated for genome-wide DNA methylation, mtDNA copy number, and telomere length. DNA methylation age (DNAm age) and accelerated aging were calculated using the Horvath age estimation algorithm in blood and in postmortem brain from BD patients and nonpsychiatric controls using publicly available data. Older BD patients presented significantly accelerated epigenetic aging compared to controls, whereas no difference was detected among the younger subjects. Patients showed higher levels of mtDNA copy number, while no difference was found between controls and siblings. mtDNA significantly correlated with epigenetic age acceleration among older subjects, as well and with global functioning in our sample. Telomere length did not show significant differences between groups, nor did it correlate with epigenetic aging or mtDNA copy number. These results suggest that BD may involve an accelerated epigenetic aging, which might represent a novel target for treating BD and subjects at risk. In particular, our results suggest a complex interplay between biological clocks to determine the accelerated aging and its consequences in BD.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Article number | 1283 |
| Journal | Translational Psychiatry |
| Volume | 7 |
| Issue number | 12 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Dec 1 2017 |
| Externally published | Yes |
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ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Psychiatry and Mental health
- Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience
- Biological Psychiatry
Cite this
Accelerated epigenetic aging and mitochondrial DNA copy number in bipolar disorder. / Fries, Gabriel R.; Bauer, Isabelle E.; Scaini, Giselli; Wu, Mon Ju; Kazimi, Iram F.; Valvassori, Samira S.; Zunta-Soares, Giovana; Walss-Bass, Consuelo; Soares, Jair C.; Quevedo, Joao.
In: Translational Psychiatry, Vol. 7, No. 12, 1283, 01.12.2017.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Accelerated epigenetic aging and mitochondrial DNA copy number in bipolar disorder
AU - Fries, Gabriel R.
AU - Bauer, Isabelle E.
AU - Scaini, Giselli
AU - Wu, Mon Ju
AU - Kazimi, Iram F.
AU - Valvassori, Samira S.
AU - Zunta-Soares, Giovana
AU - Walss-Bass, Consuelo
AU - Soares, Jair C.
AU - Quevedo, Joao
PY - 2017/12/1
Y1 - 2017/12/1
N2 - Bipolar disorder (BD) has been previously associated with accelerated aging; yet, the mechanisms underlying this association are largely unknown. The epigenetic clock has been increasingly recognized as a valuable aging marker, although its association with other biological clocks in BD patients and high-risk subjects, such as telomere length and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) copy number, has never been investigated. We included 22 patients with BD I, 16 siblings of BD patients, and 20 healthy controls in this analysis. DNA was isolated from peripheral blood and interrogated for genome-wide DNA methylation, mtDNA copy number, and telomere length. DNA methylation age (DNAm age) and accelerated aging were calculated using the Horvath age estimation algorithm in blood and in postmortem brain from BD patients and nonpsychiatric controls using publicly available data. Older BD patients presented significantly accelerated epigenetic aging compared to controls, whereas no difference was detected among the younger subjects. Patients showed higher levels of mtDNA copy number, while no difference was found between controls and siblings. mtDNA significantly correlated with epigenetic age acceleration among older subjects, as well and with global functioning in our sample. Telomere length did not show significant differences between groups, nor did it correlate with epigenetic aging or mtDNA copy number. These results suggest that BD may involve an accelerated epigenetic aging, which might represent a novel target for treating BD and subjects at risk. In particular, our results suggest a complex interplay between biological clocks to determine the accelerated aging and its consequences in BD.
AB - Bipolar disorder (BD) has been previously associated with accelerated aging; yet, the mechanisms underlying this association are largely unknown. The epigenetic clock has been increasingly recognized as a valuable aging marker, although its association with other biological clocks in BD patients and high-risk subjects, such as telomere length and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) copy number, has never been investigated. We included 22 patients with BD I, 16 siblings of BD patients, and 20 healthy controls in this analysis. DNA was isolated from peripheral blood and interrogated for genome-wide DNA methylation, mtDNA copy number, and telomere length. DNA methylation age (DNAm age) and accelerated aging were calculated using the Horvath age estimation algorithm in blood and in postmortem brain from BD patients and nonpsychiatric controls using publicly available data. Older BD patients presented significantly accelerated epigenetic aging compared to controls, whereas no difference was detected among the younger subjects. Patients showed higher levels of mtDNA copy number, while no difference was found between controls and siblings. mtDNA significantly correlated with epigenetic age acceleration among older subjects, as well and with global functioning in our sample. Telomere length did not show significant differences between groups, nor did it correlate with epigenetic aging or mtDNA copy number. These results suggest that BD may involve an accelerated epigenetic aging, which might represent a novel target for treating BD and subjects at risk. In particular, our results suggest a complex interplay between biological clocks to determine the accelerated aging and its consequences in BD.
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U2 - 10.1038/s41398-017-0048-8
DO - 10.1038/s41398-017-0048-8
M3 - Article
VL - 7
JO - Translational Psychiatry
JF - Translational Psychiatry
SN - 2158-3188
IS - 12
M1 - 1283
ER -