Synergistic and heterogeneous aging using composite phenotypes and multiple organ systems aging clocks

Area of Science:

• Gerontology
• Biomedical Engineering
• Public Health

Background:

• Assessing biological age provides a precise perspective on aging.
• Understanding organ-level aging disparities is crucial for comprehensive health assessments.
• Existing research highlights the need for deeper investigation into heterogeneous aging patterns.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate organ-specific aging rates and their relationship with overall biological age.
• To develop and validate multi-modal aging clocks incorporating various physiological and cognitive measures.
• To explore the mediating roles of organ aging in the relationship between lifestyle factors and health outcomes.

Main Methods:

• Utilized multi-scale phenotypes from 904 individuals (aged 55-65) in the Taizhou Imaging Study.
• Incorporated brain imaging, cognitive tests, blood biochemistry, omics, and physical measures.
• Developed multi-modal aging clocks for organ systems, cognition, and the whole body, assessing age correlations.

Main Results:

• Composite phenotypes of the cardiovascular system and bone act as aging clock features.
• Accelerated brain and kidney aging partially mediate smoking's effect on olfactory decline.
• Biological ages of the cardiovascular system, bone, metabolism, and brain correlate more strongly with cardiovascular risk than chronological age.

Conclusions:

• The study reveals valuable insights into multi-phenotypic aging through the overlap of composite phenotypes and biological age.
• Identified heterogeneity in aging processes across different organ systems.
• Findings suggest potential for personalized interventions targeting organ-specific aging to manage age-related diseases.