Related Experiment Video
Updated: Apr 30, 2026

Chronic Salmonella Infection Induced Intestinal Fibrosis
Published on: September 22, 2019
Accelerated biological aging and risk of inflammatory bowel disease: A prospective study from 401,013 participants
Baolong Cao1, Xiaoke Zhao1, Zhixi Lu2
1Department of Rehabilitation, Children's Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Guangzhou Road #72, Nanjing 210008, China.
Objectives:
Relationship between biological aging and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) remains unclear. We aimed to explore the associations of biological age and genetic predisposition with IBD and the predictive ability.
Methods:
Biological age and genetic predisposition were measured by PhenoAge and the polygenic risk score (PRS), respectively. The hazard ratio (HR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) of PhenoAge and combined PRS for Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC) were evaluated by Cox proportional hazards models. Additive interactions were examined to evaluate the joint effect. C statistic was employed to assess the predictive ability.
Results:
During the follow-up period of 5,320,311 person-years of 401,013 participants, 2467 patients with UC and 1262 patients with CD were observed. PhenoAge showed a significant association with an increased risk of incident IBD. Each standard deviation of PhenoAge acceleration correlated with a 38% (95% CI: 34%-41%), 35% (95% CI: 30%-38%), and 46% (95% CI: 41%-51%) increased risk of IBD, UC, and CD, respectively. Joint effects and additive interactions were noted between PhenoAge and the PRS. Individuals with a high PRS and the highest PhenoAge acceleration had the highest risk for UC (HR: 9.16, 95% CI: 7.08-11.85) and CD (7.72, 6.05-9.86), respectively. Incorporating PhenoAge and the PRS could enhance the accuracy of predicting IBD, with a highest C statistic of 0.71 for UC and 0.72 for CD.
Conclusion:
Accelerated biological aging is associated with an increased risk of IBD, particularly in individuals with high genetic predisposition. Identifying individuals with accelerated biological aging has significant implications for reducing IBD risk.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
Chronic Bowel Disorders: Introduction
Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) is a common disorder affecting the gastrointestinal tract. The distinctive feature is recurrent abdominal pain associated with altered bowel movements, manifesting as constipation, diarrhea, or fluctuating between both. The...
Inflammatory Bowel Disease I: Ulcerative Colitis
Inflammatory bowel disease, or IBD, encompasses a group of disorders characterized by chronic inflammation or ulceration of the gastrointestinal tract.
Risk Factors
The exact cause of IBD remains unclear, although it is believed to be due to a mix of genetic, environmental, microbial, and immune factors. Genetic factors are significant in determining susceptibility to IBD, with family history being a critical risk factor. Individuals with a first-degree relative who has IBD are at...
Inflammatory Bowel Disease II: Crohn's Disease
Inflammatory bowel disease, commonly known as IBD, refers to a collection of disorders that lead to persistent inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract. The two types of IBD are ulcerative colitis, which impacts the colon, and Crohn's disease, which can involve any part of the gastrointestinal segment.
Crohn's disease
Crohn's disease is a chronic, systemic inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) that predominantly affects the gastrointestinal tract. It is marked by...
Inflammatory Bowel Disease II: Ulcerative Colitis
Inflammatory Bowel Disease III: Crohn's Disease
Inflammatory Bowel Disease IV: Clinical Manifestations

