Association between essential trace elements, dietary patterns, and biological aging

Biological aging (BA), compared with chronological age (CA), might be a better indicator for understanding aging process. Although essential trace elements (ETEs) and dietary patterns were associated with various health effects, there were limited studies of their interactive effects on BA.

A total of 2627 older adults (≥ 65 years) were enrolled in this study, and we measured two composite BA indicators, the residual from regressing Klemera and Doubal Methods biological age on CA (KDM-advance) and dysregulation of homeostasis (HD). Dietary patterns were identified by factor analysis. Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry and inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectrometer were used to determine the concentrations of ETEs. The associations between six ETEs, dietary patterns, and BA indicators were analyzed by multiple linear regression. Bayesian kernel machine regression (BKMR) and quantile g-computation were used to explore the mixed effect of ETEs. Interactions of ETEs and dietary patterns, as well as the mediating effect of ETEs on the relationship between dietary patterns and BA indicators were further assessed.

BKMR showed ETEs mixture was associated with decelerated BA indicators, with Se as the dominant contributor. An interquartile range increase in ln-transformed Se was associated with a 0.60-year decrease in KDM-advance. And ln-transformed Se was negatively associated with HD (β = - 0.09, 95%CI: - 0.14, - 0.04). High-protein (β = - 0.34, 95%CI: - 0.65, - 0.03) and plant-based dietary patterns (β = - 0.36, 95%CI: - 0.68, - 0.05) were associated with decelerated KDM-advance, respectively. Pickled foods dietary pattern weakened the protective associations of Cr with HD (Pint = 0.002). Se mediated the relationship between high-protein dietary pattern and KDM-advance, with the proportion of 17.2%.

Mixed ETEs was negatively associated with BA indicators, KDM-advance and HD, with Se as the dominant contributor. Pickled foods dietary pattern attenuated the protective association between Cr and HD. And Se mediated the relationship between high-protein dietary pattern and KDM-advance. These findings may help to improve dietary guidelines for ETEs-related BA deceleration.