Severe drought exposure in utero associates to children's epigenetic age acceleration in a global climate change hot spot.
case_control · Level III
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 38755138.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/s41467-024-48426-7 and PMC identifier 11099019.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
The goal of this study is to examine the association between in utero drought exposure and epigenetic age acceleration (EAA) in a global climate change hot spot. Calculations of EAA in adults using DNA methylation have been found to accurately predict chronic disease and longevity. However, fewer studies have examined EAA in children, and drought exposure in utero has not been investigated. Additionally, studies of EAA in low-income countries with diverse populations are rare. We assess EAA using epigenetic clocks and two DNAm-based pace-of-aging measurements from whole saliva samples in 104 drought-exposed children and 109 same-sex sibling controls in northern Kenya. We find a positive association between in utero drought exposure and EAA in two epigenetic clocks (Hannum's and GrimAge) and a negative association in the DNAm based telomere length (DNAmTL) clock. The combined impact of drought's multiple deleterious stressors may reduce overall life expectancy through accelerated epigenetic aging.
Medical subject headings
- Droughts
- Epigenesis, Genetic
- Climate Change
- DNA Methylation
- Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects