Summary: A new study shows a possible link between depressive symptoms, living in deprived urban neighborhoods, and accelerated aging. Research has used DNA methylation-based epigenetic clocks to estimate biological age and found premature aging in individuals facing these conditions.
The study also found a connection between higher neighborhood deprivation and a higher risk of death. The influence of depression on premature aging seems unrelated to neighborhood deprivation, suggesting different underlying mechanisms.
Key Facts:
- The study used epigenetic clocks based on DNA methylation, which helped estimate the difference between chronological age and biological age.
- Depressive symptoms and living in a deprived urban neighborhood were found to be independently associated with accelerated biological aging.
- The study found that for every point increase in the depression symptom score, the risk of death accelerated by one month.
Source: McMaster University
Feeling depressed and living in a deprived urban neighborhood may be making you age faster, according to a new study led by researchers at McMaster University.
The findings, published June 5 in the The Journals of Gerontology, Series A: Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences, showed that living in urban environments marked by material and social inequalities, and having depressive symptoms, were independently associated with premature biological aging, even after accounting for at the individual level of health and behavioral risk factors, such as chronic conditions and poor health behaviors.
Parminder Raina, a professor in the Department of Health Research Methods, Evidence, and Impact at McMaster University, led the research team, which included investigators from the Netherlands, Norway and Switzerland.
![It shows an old man looking out over a city.](https://neurosciencenews.com/files/2023/06/depression-aging-social-neurosicece.jpg)
“Our study used two DNA methylation-based estimators, known as epigenetic clocks, to examine aging at the cellular level and estimate the difference between chronological age and biological age,” said Divya Joshi. , the first author of the study and a research associate in the Department. of Health Research Methods, Evidence, and Impact at McMaster.
“Our findings showed that neighborhood deprivation and depressive symptoms were positively associated with accelerated epigenetic age estimated using the DNAm GrimAge clock.
“This adds to the growing body of evidence that living in urban areas with higher levels of neighborhood deprivation and having depressive symptoms are both associated with premature biological aging.”
Depressive symptoms in the study were measured using a 10-item standardized depression scale. The researchers found an acceleration in the risk of death by one month for every point increase in the depression symptom score.
They hypothesized that the emotional distress caused by depression may result in more biological damage and dysregulation of physiological systems, which may lead to premature aging.
The researchers analyzed neighborhood material and social deprivation using two indices developed by the Canadian Urban Environmental Health Research Consortium (CANUE) based on the 2011 census.
Social deprivation reflects the availability of fewer social resources in the family and community, and material deprivation is an indicator of people’s inability to access the goods and comforts of modern life, such as adequate shelter, nutritious food, a car, high-speed internet, or a place with recreational facilities.
The researchers found an increase in the risk of death of about a year for those exposed to a larger neighborhood compared to a lower neighborhood.
The study did not find that neighborhood deprivation magnified the effect of depressive symptoms on epigenetic age acceleration.
“Our results showed that the effect of neighborhood deprivation on epigenetic age acceleration was similar regardless of depression symptoms, suggesting that depression influences epigenetic age acceleration through mechanisms unrelated to neighborhood. ,” said Joshi.
The research analyzed epigenetic data from 1,445 participants enrolled in the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging (CLSA), a research platform that follows more than 50,000 participants who were between the ages of 45 and 85 when recruited.
“Longitudinal studies, like the CLSA, are important to confirm associations like those found in this study,” said Raina, the senior author and lead principal investigator of the CLSA study.
“By following the same group of participants for 20 years, we will be able to determine whether epigenetic changes are stable or reversible over time. We will also gain insight into the mechanisms that lead to accelerated epigenetic aging. “
Funding: Support for CLSA is provided by the Government of Canada through the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and the Canada Foundation for Innovation. Additional support for this study was provided by the European Union Horizon 2020 Programme.
About depression and aging research news
Author: Veronica McGuire
Source: McMaster University
Please contact: Veronica McGuire – McMaster University
Image: Image credited to Neuroscience News
Original Research: The findings appear in The Journals of Gerontology Series A