1
|
Rajendrakumar AL, Arbeev KG, Bagley O, Yashin AI, Ukraintseva S. The SNP rs6859 in NECTIN2 gene is associated with underlying heterogeneous trajectories of cognitive changes in older adults. BMC Neurol 2024; 24:78. [PMID: 38408961 PMCID: PMC10898142 DOI: 10.1186/s12883-024-03577-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/05/2023] [Accepted: 02/20/2024] [Indexed: 02/28/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Functional decline associated with dementia, including in Alzheimer's disease (AD), is not uniform across individuals, and respective heterogeneity is not yet fully explained. Such heterogeneity may in part be related to genetic variability among individuals. In this study, we investigated whether the SNP rs6859 in nectin cell adhesion molecule 2 (NECTIN2) gene (a major risk factor for AD) influences trajectories of cognitive decline in older participants from the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI). METHODS We retrospectively analyzed records on 1310 participants from the ADNI database for the multivariate analysis. We used longitudinal measures of Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) scores in participants, who were cognitively normal, or having AD, or other cognitive deficits to investigate the trajectories of cognitive changes. Multiple linear regression, linear mixed models and latent class analyses were conducted to investigate the association of the SNP rs6859 with MMSE. RESULTS The regression coefficient per one allele dose of the SNP rs6859 was independently associated with MMSE in both cross-sectional (-2.23, p < 0.01) and linear mixed models (-2.26, p < 0.01) analyses. The latent class model with three distinct subgroups (class 1: stable and gradual decline, class 2: intermediate and late decline, and class 3: lowest and irregular) performed best in the posterior classification, 42.67% (n = 559), 21.45% (n = 281), 35.88% (n = 470) were classified as class 1, class 2, and class 3. In the heterogeneous linear mixed model, the regression coefficient per one allele dose of rs6859 - A risk allele was significantly associated with MMSE class 1 and class 2 memberships and related decline; Class 1 (-2.28, 95% CI: -4.05, -0.50, p < 0.05), Class 2 (-5.56, 95% CI: -9.61, -1.51, p < 0.01) and Class 3 (-0.37, 95% CI: -1.62, 0.87, p = 0.55). CONCLUSIONS This study found statistical evidence supporting the classification of three latent subclass groups representing complex MMSE trajectories in the ADNI cohort. The SNP rs6859 can be suggested as a candidate genetic predictor of variation in modeling MMSE trajectory, as well as for identifying latent classes with higher baseline MMSE. Functional studies may help further elucidate this relationship.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Aravind Lathika Rajendrakumar
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC, 27708-0408, USA
| | - Konstantin G Arbeev
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC, 27708-0408, USA.
| | - Olivia Bagley
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC, 27708-0408, USA
| | - Anatoliy I Yashin
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC, 27708-0408, USA
| | - Svetlana Ukraintseva
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC, 27708-0408, USA
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Ji M, Xu X, Xu Q, Hsiao YC, Martin C, Ukraintseva S, Popov V, Arbeev KG, Randall TA, Wu X, Garcia-Peterson LM, Liu J, Xu X, Andrea Azcarate-Peril M, Wan Y, Yashin AI, Anantharaman K, Lu K, Li JL, Shats I, Li X. Methionine restriction-induced sulfur deficiency impairs antitumour immunity partially through gut microbiota. Nat Metab 2023; 5:1526-1543. [PMID: 37537369 PMCID: PMC10513933 DOI: 10.1038/s42255-023-00854-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/03/2023] [Accepted: 06/30/2023] [Indexed: 08/05/2023]
Abstract
Restriction of methionine (MR), a sulfur-containing essential amino acid, has been reported to repress cancer growth and improve therapeutic responses in several preclinical settings. However, how MR impacts cancer progression in the context of the intact immune system is unknown. Here we report that while inhibiting cancer growth in immunocompromised mice, MR reduces T cell abundance, exacerbates tumour growth and impairs tumour response to immunotherapy in immunocompetent male and female mice. Mechanistically, MR reduces microbial production of hydrogen sulfide, which is critical for immune cell survival/activation. Dietary supplementation of a hydrogen sulfide donor or a precursor, or methionine, stimulates antitumour immunity and suppresses tumour progression. Our findings reveal an unexpected negative interaction between MR, sulfur deficiency and antitumour immunity and further uncover a vital role of gut microbiota in mediating this interaction. Our study suggests that any possible anticancer benefits of MR require careful consideration of both the microbiota and the immune system.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Ming Ji
- Signal Transduction Laboratory, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Research Triangle Park, NC, USA
| | - Xiaojiang Xu
- Integrative Bioinformatics, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Research Triangle Park, NC, USA
| | - Qing Xu
- Signal Transduction Laboratory, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Research Triangle Park, NC, USA
| | - Yun-Chung Hsiao
- Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Cody Martin
- Department of Bacteriology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA
- Microbiology Doctoral Training Program, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA
| | - Svetlana Ukraintseva
- Social Science Research Institute, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC, USA
| | - Vladimir Popov
- Social Science Research Institute, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC, USA
| | - Konstantin G Arbeev
- Social Science Research Institute, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC, USA
| | - Tom A Randall
- Integrative Bioinformatics, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Research Triangle Park, NC, USA
| | - Xiaoyue Wu
- Signal Transduction Laboratory, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Research Triangle Park, NC, USA
| | - Liz M Garcia-Peterson
- Signal Transduction Laboratory, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Research Triangle Park, NC, USA
| | - Juan Liu
- Department of Pharmacology and Cancer Biology, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC, USA
| | - Xin Xu
- Epigenetics and Stem Cell Biology Laboratory, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Research Triangle Park, NC, USA
| | - M Andrea Azcarate-Peril
- Department of Medicine, Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology and Microbiome Core Facility, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Yisong Wan
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology and Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Anatoliy I Yashin
- Social Science Research Institute, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC, USA
| | | | - Kun Lu
- Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Jian-Liang Li
- Integrative Bioinformatics, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Research Triangle Park, NC, USA
| | - Igor Shats
- Signal Transduction Laboratory, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Research Triangle Park, NC, USA
| | - Xiaoling Li
- Signal Transduction Laboratory, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Research Triangle Park, NC, USA.
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Arbeev KG, Ukraintseva S, Bagley O, Duan H, Wu D, Akushevich I, Stallard E, Kulminski A, Christensen K, Feitosa MF, O’Connell JR, Parker D, Whitson H, Yashin AI. Interactions between genes involved in physiological dysregulation and axon guidance: role in Alzheimer's disease. Front Genet 2023; 14:1236509. [PMID: 37719713 PMCID: PMC10500346 DOI: 10.3389/fgene.2023.1236509] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/07/2023] [Accepted: 08/17/2023] [Indexed: 09/19/2023] Open
Abstract
Dysregulation of physiological processes may contribute to Alzheimer's disease (AD) development. We previously found that an increase in the level of physiological dysregulation (PD) in the aging body is associated with declining resilience and robustness to major diseases. Also, our genome-wide association study found that genes associated with the age-related increase in PD frequently represented pathways implicated in axon guidance and synaptic function, which in turn were linked to AD and related traits (e.g., amyloid, tau, neurodegeneration) in the literature. Here, we tested the hypothesis that genes involved in PD and axon guidance/synapse function may jointly influence onset of AD. We assessed the impact of interactions between SNPs in such genes on AD onset in the Long Life Family Study and sought to replicate the findings in the Health and Retirement Study. We found significant interactions between SNPs in the UNC5C and CNTN6, and PLXNA4 and EPHB2 genes that influenced AD onset in both datasets. Associations with individual SNPs were not statistically significant. Our findings, thus, support a major role of genetic interactions in the heterogeneity of AD and suggest the joint contribution of genes involved in PD and axon guidance/synapse function (essential for the maintenance of complex neural networks) to AD development.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Konstantin G. Arbeev
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC, United States
| | - Svetlana Ukraintseva
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC, United States
| | - Olivia Bagley
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC, United States
| | - Hongzhe Duan
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC, United States
| | - Deqing Wu
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC, United States
| | - Igor Akushevich
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC, United States
| | - Eric Stallard
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC, United States
| | - Alexander Kulminski
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC, United States
| | - Kaare Christensen
- Danish Aging Research Center, Department of Public Health, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark
| | - Mary F. Feitosa
- Division of Statistical Genomics, Department of Genetics, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, United States
| | - Jeffrey R. O’Connell
- Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Nutrition and Program for Personalized and Genomic Medicine, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States
| | - Daniel Parker
- Duke Center for the Study of Aging and Human Development, Duke University, Durham, NC, United States
| | - Heather Whitson
- Duke Center for the Study of Aging and Human Development, Duke University, Durham, NC, United States
- Durham VA Geriatrics Research Education and Clinical Center, Durham, NC, United States
| | - Anatoliy I. Yashin
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC, United States
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Arbeev KG, Bagley O, Yashkin AP, Duan H, Akushevich I, Ukraintseva SV, Yashin AI. Understanding Alzheimer's disease in the context of aging: Findings from applications of stochastic process models to the Health and Retirement Study. Mech Ageing Dev 2023; 211:111791. [PMID: 36796730 PMCID: PMC10085865 DOI: 10.1016/j.mad.2023.111791] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/14/2022] [Revised: 01/27/2023] [Accepted: 02/13/2023] [Indexed: 02/16/2023]
Abstract
There is growing literature on applications of biodemographic models, including stochastic process models (SPM), to studying regularities of age dynamics of biological variables in relation to aging and disease development. Alzheimer's disease (AD) is especially good candidate for SPM applications because age is a major risk factor for this heterogeneous complex trait. However, such applications are largely lacking. This paper starts filling this gap and applies SPM to data on onset of AD and longitudinal trajectories of body mass index (BMI) constructed from the Health and Retirement Study surveys and Medicare-linked data. We found that APOE e4 carriers are less robust to deviations of trajectories of BMI from the optimal levels compared to non-carriers. We also observed age-related decline in adaptive response (resilience) related to deviations of BMI from optimal levels as well as APOE- and age-dependence in other components related to variability of BMI around the mean allostatic values and accumulation of allostatic load. SPM applications thus allow revealing novel connections between age, genetic factors and longitudinal trajectories of risk factors in the context of AD and aging creating new opportunities for understanding AD development, forecasting trends in AD incidence and prevalence in populations, and studying disparities in those.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Konstantin G Arbeev
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC 27705, USA.
| | - Olivia Bagley
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC 27705, USA
| | - Arseniy P Yashkin
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC 27705, USA
| | - Hongzhe Duan
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC 27705, USA
| | - Igor Akushevich
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC 27705, USA
| | - Svetlana V Ukraintseva
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC 27705, USA
| | - Anatoliy I Yashin
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC 27705, USA
| |
Collapse
|
5
|
Gurinovich A, Li M, Leshchyk A, Bae H, Song Z, Arbeev KG, Nygaard M, Feitosa MF, Perls TT, Sebastiani P. Evaluation of GENESIS, SAIGE, REGENIE and fastGWA-GLMM for genome-wide association studies of binary traits in correlated data. Front Genet 2022; 13:897210. [PMID: 36212134 PMCID: PMC9544087 DOI: 10.3389/fgene.2022.897210] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/15/2022] [Accepted: 08/08/2022] [Indexed: 11/28/2022] Open
Abstract
Performing a genome-wide association study (GWAS) with a binary phenotype using family data is a challenging task. Using linear mixed effects models is typically unsuitable for binary traits, and numerical approximations of the likelihood function may not work well with rare genetic variants with small counts. Additionally, imbalance in the case-control ratios poses challenges as traditional statistical methods such as the Score test or Wald test perform poorly in this setting. In the last couple of years, several methods have been proposed to better approximate the likelihood function of a mixed effects logistic regression model that uses Saddle Point Approximation (SPA). SPA adjustment has recently been implemented in multiple software, including GENESIS, SAIGE, REGENIE and fastGWA-GLMM: four increasingly popular tools to perform GWAS of binary traits. We compare Score and SPA tests using real family data to evaluate computational efficiency and the agreement of the results. Additionally, we compare various ways to adjust for family relatedness, such as sparse and full genetic relationship matrices (GRM) and polygenic effect estimates. We use the New England Centenarian Study imputed genotype data and the Long Life Family Study whole-genome sequencing data and the binary phenotype of human extreme longevity to compare the agreement of the results and tools’ computational performance. The evaluation suggests that REGENIE might not be a good choice when analyzing correlated data of a small size. fastGWA-GLMM is the most computationally efficient compared to the other three tools, but it appears to be overly conservative when applied to family-based data. GENESIS, SAIGE and fastGWA-GLMM produced similar, although not identical, results, with SPA adjustment performing better than Score tests. Our evaluation also demonstrates the importance of adjusting by full GRM in highly correlated datasets when using GENESIS or SAIGE.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Anastasia Gurinovich
- Institute for Clinical Research and Health Policy Studies, Tufts Medical Center, Boston, MA, United States
- *Correspondence: Anastasia Gurinovich,
| | - Mengze Li
- Bioinformatics Program, Boston University, Boston, MA, United States
| | | | - Harold Bae
- Biostatistics Program, College of Public Health and Human Sciences, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, United States
| | - Zeyuan Song
- Department of Biostatistics, Boston University School of Public Health, Boston, MA, United States
| | - Konstantin G. Arbeev
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC, United States
| | - Marianne Nygaard
- Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Biodemography, Department of Public Health, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark
| | - Mary F Feitosa
- Division of Statistical Genomics, Department of Genetics, Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis, MO, United States
| | - Thomas T Perls
- Department of Medicine, Geriatrics Section, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, United States
| | - Paola Sebastiani
- Institute for Clinical Research and Health Policy Studies, Tufts Medical Center, Boston, MA, United States
| |
Collapse
|
6
|
Anderson JJ, Susser E, Arbeev KG, Yashin AI, Levy D, Verhulst S, Aviv A. Telomere-length dependent T-cell clonal expansion: A model linking ageing to COVID-19 T-cell lymphopenia and mortality. EBioMedicine 2022; 78:103978. [PMID: 35367774 PMCID: PMC8970968 DOI: 10.1016/j.ebiom.2022.103978] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/15/2021] [Revised: 03/15/2022] [Accepted: 03/16/2022] [Indexed: 01/29/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Severe COVID-19 T-cell lymphopenia is more common among older adults and entails poor prognosis. Offsetting the decline in T-cell count during COVID-19 demands fast and massive T-cell clonal expansion, which is telomere length (TL)-dependent. METHODS We developed a model of TL-dependent T-cell clonal expansion capacity with age and virtually examined the relation of T-cell clonal expansion with COVID-19 mortality in the general population. FINDINGS The model shows that an individual with average hematopoietic cell TL (HCTL) at age twenty years maintains maximal T-cell clonal expansion capacity until the 6th decade of life when this capacity rapidly declines by more than 90% over the next ten years. The collapse in the T-cell clonal expansion capacity coincides with the steep increase in COVID-19 mortality with age. INTERPRETATION Short HCTL might increase vulnerability of many older adults, and some younger individuals with inherently short HCTL, to COVID-19 T-cell lymphopenia and severe disease. FUNDING A full list of funding bodies that contributed to this study can be found in the Acknowledgements section.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- James J. Anderson
- School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA,Corresponding author.
| | - Ezra Susser
- Department of Epidemiology, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032, USA,New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY 10032, USA
| | - Konstantin G. Arbeev
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC 27705, USA
| | - Anatoliy I. Yashin
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC 27705, USA
| | - Daniel Levy
- Population Sciences Branch, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 27705, USA,The Framingham Heart Study, Framingham, MA 01702, USA
| | - Simon Verhulst
- Groningen Institute for Evolutionary Life Sciences, University of Groningen, Groningen, the Netherland
| | - Abraham Aviv
- The Center of Human Development and Aging, New Jersey Medical School, Rutgers University, Newark, NJ 07103, USA
| |
Collapse
|
7
|
Nazarian A, Arbeev KG, Yashkin AP, Kulminski AM. Genome-wide analysis of genetic predisposition to common polygenic cancers. J Appl Genet 2022; 63:315-325. [PMID: 34981446 PMCID: PMC8983541 DOI: 10.1007/s13353-021-00679-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/12/2021] [Revised: 12/13/2021] [Accepted: 12/23/2021] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Abstract
Lung, breast, prostate, and colorectal cancers are among the most common and fatal malignancies worldwide. They are mainly caused by multifactorial mechanisms and are genetically heterogeneous. We investigated the genetic architecture of these cancers through genome-wide association, pathway-based, and summary-based transcriptome-/methylome-wide association analyses using three independent cohorts. Our genome-wide association analyses identified the associations of 33 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) at P < 5E - 06, of which 32 SNPs were not previously reported and did not have proxy variants within their ± 1 Mb flanking regions. Moreover, other polymorphisms mapped to their closest genes were not previously associated with the same cancers at P < 5E - 06. Our pathway enrichment analyses revealed associations of 32 pathways; mainly related to the immune system, DNA replication/transcription, and chromosomal organization; with the studied cancers. Also, 60 probes were associated with these cancers in our transcriptome-wide and methylome-wide analyses. The ± 1 Mb flanking regions of most probes had not attained P < 5E - 06 in genome-wide association studies. The genes corresponding to the significant probes can be considered as potential targets for further functional studies. Two genes (i.e., CDC14A and PMEL) demonstrated stronger evidence of associations with lung cancer as they had significant probes in both transcriptome-wide and methylome-wide association analyses. The novel cancer-associated SNPs and genes identified here would advance our understanding of the genetic heterogeneity of the common cancers.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Alireza Nazarian
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Erwin Mill Building, 2024 W. Main St., Durham, NC, 27705, USA.
| | - Konstantin G Arbeev
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Erwin Mill Building, 2024 W. Main St., Durham, NC, 27705, USA
| | - Arseniy P Yashkin
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Erwin Mill Building, 2024 W. Main St., Durham, NC, 27705, USA
| | - Alexander M Kulminski
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Erwin Mill Building, 2024 W. Main St., Durham, NC, 27705, USA.
| |
Collapse
|
8
|
Anderson JJ, Susser E, Arbeev KG, Yashin AI, Levy D, Verhulst S, Aviv A. Short Telomeres and a T-Cell Shortfall in COVID-19: The Aging Effect. medRxiv 2021. [PMID: 34268523 PMCID: PMC8282112 DOI: 10.1101/2021.05.19.21257474] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
The slow pace of global vaccination and the rapid emergence of SARS-CoV-2 variants suggest recurrent waves of COVID-19 in coming years. Therefore, understanding why deaths from COVID-19 are highly concentrated among older adults is essential for global health. Severe COVID-19 T-cell lymphopenia is more common among older adults, and it entails poor prognosis. Much about the primary etiology of this form of lymphopenia remains unknown, but regardless of its causes, offsetting the decline in T-cell count during SARS-CoV-2 infection demands fast and massive T-cell clonal expansion, which is telomere length (TL)-dependent. We have built a model that captures the effect of age-dependent TL shortening in hematopoietic cells and its effect on T-cell clonal expansion capacity. The model shows that an individual with average hematopoietic cell TL (HCTL) at age twenty years maintains maximal T-cell clonal expansion capacity until the 6th decade of life when this capacity plummets by more than 90% over the next ten years. The collapse coincides with the steep increase in COVID-19 mortality with age. HCTL metrics may thus explain the vulnerability of older adults to COVID-19. That said, the wide inter-individual variation in HCTL across the general population means that some younger adults with inherently short HCTL might be at risk of severe COVID-19 lymphopenia and mortality from the disease.
Collapse
|
9
|
Santanasto AJ, Marron MM, Boudreau RM, Feitosa MF, Wojczynski MK, Arbeev KG, Thyagarajan B, Schupf N, Stallard E, Sebastiani P, Cosentino S, Christensen K, Newman AB. Prevalence, Incidence, and Risk Factors for Overall, Physical, and Cognitive Independence Among Those From Exceptionally Long-Lived Families: The Long Life Family Study. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci 2020; 75:899-905. [PMID: 31086986 PMCID: PMC7164521 DOI: 10.1093/gerona/glz124] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/14/2018] [Indexed: 01/24/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND The Long Life Family Study (LLFS) enrolled families exhibiting exceptional longevity. The goal of this article was to determine the prevalence and predictors of remaining independent after 7 years in the oldest generation. METHODS We examined 7-year change in physical (free of activities of daily living difficulty), cognitive (Mini-Mental State Examination score ≥ 24), and overall independence (physically/cognitively independent) in adults aged 90.3 ± 6.3 from LLFS's oldest generation. Potential predictors (n = 28) of remaining independent included demographics, diseases, biomarkers, anthropometrics, and physical and cognitive performance tasks and were determined using generalized estimating equations (α: p < .05). This was a discovery/exploratory analysis, so no multiple testing correction was employed and the results require independent replication. RESULTS At baseline (n = 1442), 67.3%, 83.8%, and 79.7% were overall, physically, and cognitively independent, respectively. After 7 years, 66% died, 7.5% were lost to follow-up, and the prevalence of overall independence decreased to 59.1% in survivors (-8.2%, 95% confidence interval: -14.1%, 2.2%). Of those with baseline independence, 156/226 (69.0%) remained independent. Predictors of remaining physically independent included younger age, better Short Physical Performance Battery score and lung function, smaller waist circumference, and lower soluble receptor for advanced glycation end-product levels (p < .05). Predictors of remaining cognitively independent included no cancer history, better Digit Symbol Substitution Test performance, and higher body weight (p < .05). CONCLUSIONS The prevalence of independence decreased by only 8.2% after 7 years, demonstrating the close correspondence between disability and mortality. Further, despite a mean baseline age of 90 years, a large proportion of survivors remained independent, suggesting this exceptional subgroup may harbor protective mechanisms.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Adam J Santanasto
- Department of Epidemiology, Graduate School of Public Health, University of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
| | - Megan M Marron
- Department of Epidemiology, Graduate School of Public Health, University of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
| | - Robert M Boudreau
- Department of Epidemiology, Graduate School of Public Health, University of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
| | - Mary F Feitosa
- Division of Statistical Genomics, Department of Genetics, Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Missouri
| | - Mary K Wojczynski
- Division of Statistical Genomics, Department of Genetics, Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Missouri
| | - Konstantin G Arbeev
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina
| | - Bharat Thyagarajan
- Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, School of Medicine, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota
| | - Nicole Schupf
- Department of Epidemiology, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York
| | - Eric Stallard
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina
| | - Paola Sebastiani
- Department of Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Boston University, Massachusetts
| | - Stephanie Cosentino
- Department of Neurology, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York
| | - Kaare Christensen
- Epidemiology Unit, Institute of Public Health, The Danish Aging Research Center, University of Southern Denmark, Sønderborg, Denmark
| | - Anne B Newman
- Department of Epidemiology, Graduate School of Public Health, University of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
| |
Collapse
|
10
|
Arbeev KG, Bagley O, Ukraintseva SV, Wu D, Duan H, Kulminski AM, Stallard E, Christensen K, Lee JH, Thyagarajan B, Zmuda JM, Yashin AI. Genetics of physiological dysregulation: findings from the long life family study using joint models. Aging (Albany NY) 2020; 12:5920-5947. [PMID: 32235003 PMCID: PMC7185144 DOI: 10.18632/aging.102987] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/11/2019] [Accepted: 03/24/2020] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Abstract
Recently, Mahalanobis distance (DM) was suggested as a statistical measure of physiological dysregulation in aging individuals. We constructed DM variants using sets of biomarkers collected at the two visits of the Long Life Family Study (LLFS) and performed joint analyses of longitudinal observations of DM and follow-up mortality in LLFS using joint models. We found that DM is significantly associated with mortality (hazard ratio per standard deviation: 1.31 [1.16, 1.48] to 2.22 [1.84, 2.67]) after controlling for age and other covariates. GWAS of random intercepts and slopes of DM estimated from joint models found a genome-wide significant SNP (rs12652543, p=7.2×10-9) in the TRIO gene associated with the slope of DM constructed from biomarkers declining in late life. Review of biological effects of genes corresponding to top SNPs from GWAS of DM slopes revealed that these genes are broadly involved in cancer prognosis and axon guidance/synapse function. Although axon growth is mainly observed during early development, the axon guidance genes can function in adults and contribute to maintenance of neural circuits and synaptic plasticity. Our results indicate that decline in axons' ability to maintain complex regulatory networks may potentially play an important role in the increase in physiological dysregulation during aging.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Konstantin G Arbeev
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham NC, 27708, USA
| | - Olivia Bagley
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham NC, 27708, USA
| | - Svetlana V Ukraintseva
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham NC, 27708, USA
| | - Deqing Wu
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham NC, 27708, USA
| | - Hongzhe Duan
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham NC, 27708, USA
| | - Alexander M Kulminski
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham NC, 27708, USA
| | - Eric Stallard
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham NC, 27708, USA
| | - Kaare Christensen
- Danish Aging Research Center, Department of Public Health, University of Southern Denmark 5000, Odense C, Denmark
| | - Joseph H Lee
- Taub Institute for Research on Alzheimer's Disease and the Aging Brain, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032, USA.,G. H. Sergievsky Center, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032, USA.,Departments of Epidemiology and Neurology, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY 10032, USA
| | - Bharat Thyagarajan
- Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA
| | - Joseph M Zmuda
- Department of Epidemiology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15261, USA
| | - Anatoliy I Yashin
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham NC, 27708, USA
| |
Collapse
|
11
|
Arbeev KG, Bagley O, Ukraintseva SV, Duan H, Kulminski AM, Stallard E, Wu D, Christensen K, Feitosa MF, Thyagarajan B, Zmuda JM, Yashin AI. Composite Measure of Physiological Dysregulation as a Predictor of Mortality: The Long Life Family Study. Front Public Health 2020; 8:56. [PMID: 32211364 PMCID: PMC7067825 DOI: 10.3389/fpubh.2020.00056] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/11/2019] [Accepted: 02/14/2020] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Biological aging results in changes in an organism that accumulate over age in a complex fashion across different regulatory systems, and their cumulative effect manifests in increased physiological dysregulation (PD) and declining robustness and resilience that increase risks of health disorders and death. Several composite measures involving multiple biomarkers that capture complex effects of aging have been proposed. We applied one such approach, the Mahalanobis distance (DM), to baseline measurements of various biomarkers (inflammation, hematological, diabetes-associated, lipids, endocrine, renal) in 3,279 participants from the Long Life Family Study (LLFS) with complete biomarker data. We used DM to estimate the level of PD by summarizing information about multiple deviations of biomarkers from specified “norms” in the reference population (here, LLFS participants younger than 60 years at baseline). An increase in DM was associated with significantly higher mortality risk (hazard ratio per standard deviation of DM: 1.42; 95% confidence interval: [1.3, 1.54]), even after adjustment for a composite measure summarizing 85 health-related deficits (disabilities, diseases, less severe symptoms), age, and other covariates. Such composite measures significantly improved mortality predictions especially in the subsample of participants from families enriched for exceptional longevity (the areas under the receiver operating characteristic curves are 0.88 vs. 0.85, in models with and without the composite measures, p = 2.9 × 10−5). Sensitivity analyses confirmed that our conclusions are not sensitive to different aspects of computational procedures. Our findings provide the first evidence of association of PD with mortality and its predictive performance in a unique sample selected for exceptional familial longevity.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Konstantin G Arbeev
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC, United States
| | - Olivia Bagley
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC, United States
| | - Svetlana V Ukraintseva
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC, United States
| | - Hongzhe Duan
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC, United States
| | - Alexander M Kulminski
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC, United States
| | - Eric Stallard
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC, United States
| | - Deqing Wu
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC, United States
| | - Kaare Christensen
- Danish Aging Research Center, Department of Public Health, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark
| | - Mary F Feitosa
- Division of Statistical Genomics, Department of Genetics, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, United States
| | - Bharat Thyagarajan
- Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, United States
| | - Joseph M Zmuda
- Department of Epidemiology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States
| | - Anatoliy I Yashin
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC, United States
| |
Collapse
|
12
|
Arbeev KG, Verhulst S, Steenstrup T, Kark JD, Bagley O, Kooperberg C, Reiner AP, Hwang SJ, Levy D, Fitzpatrick AL, Christensen K, Yashin AI, Aviv A. Association of Leukocyte Telomere Length With Mortality Among Adult Participants in 3 Longitudinal Studies. JAMA Netw Open 2020; 3:e200023. [PMID: 32101305 PMCID: PMC7137690 DOI: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2020.0023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 49] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
IMPORTANCE Leukocyte telomere length (LTL) is a trait associated with risk of cardiovascular disease and cancer, the 2 major disease categories that largely define longevity in the United States. However, it remains unclear whether LTL is associated with the human life span. OBJECTIVE To examine whether LTL is associated with the life span of contemporary humans. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS This cohort study included 3259 adults of European ancestry from the Cardiovascular Health Study (CHS), Framingham Heart Study (FHS), and Women's Health Initiative (WHI). Leukocyte telomere length was measured in 1992 and 1997 in the CHS, from 1995 to 1998 in the FHS, and from 1993 to 1998 in the WHI. Data analysis was conducted from February 2017 to December 2019. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES Death and LTL, measured by Southern blots of the terminal restriction fragments, were the main outcomes. Cause of death was adjudicated by end point committees. RESULTS The analyzed sample included 3259 participants (2342 [71.9%] women), with a median (range) age of 69.0 (50.0-98.0) years at blood collection. The median (range) follow-up until death was 10.9 (0.2-23.0) years in CHS, 19.7 (3.4-23.0) years in FHS, and 16.6 (0.5-20.0) years in WHI. During follow-up, there were 1525 deaths (482 [31.6%] of cardiovascular disease; 373 [24.5%] of cancer, and 670 [43.9%] of other or unknown causes). Short LTL, expressed in residual LTL, was associated with increased mortality risk. Overall, the hazard ratio for all-cause mortality for a 1-kilobase decrease in LTL was 1.34 (95% CI, 1.21-1.47). This association was stronger for noncancer causes of death (cardiovascular death: hazard ratio, 1.28; 95% CI, 1.08-1.52; cancer: hazard ratio, 1.13; 95% CI, 0.93-1.36; and other causes: hazard ratio, 1.53; 95% CI, 1.32-1.77). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE The results of this study indicate that LTL is associated with a natural life span limit in contemporary humans.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Konstantin G. Arbeev
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina
| | - Simon Verhulst
- Groningen Institute for Evolutionary Life Sciences, University of Groningen, the Netherlands
| | - Troels Steenstrup
- Epidemiology, Biostatistics, and Biodemography, Institute of Public Health, University of South Denmark, Odense, Denmark
| | - Jeremy D. Kark
- Epidemiology Unit, Hebrew University–Hadassah School of Public Health and Community Medicine, Jerusalem, Israel
| | - Olivia Bagley
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina
| | - Charles Kooperberg
- Division of Public Health Sciences, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, Washington
| | - Alexander P. Reiner
- Division of Public Health Sciences, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, Washington
- Department of Epidemiology, University of Washington, Seattle
| | - Shih-Jen Hwang
- Population Sciences Branch, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland
- The Framingham Heart Study, Framingham, Massachusetts
| | - Daniel Levy
- Population Sciences Branch, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland
- The Framingham Heart Study, Framingham, Massachusetts
| | | | - Kaare Christensen
- Department of Clinical Genetics, Odense University Hospital, Odense, Denmark
- Danish Aging Research Center, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark
| | - Anatoliy I. Yashin
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina
| | - Abraham Aviv
- Center of Human Development and Aging, New Jersey Medical School, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Newark
| |
Collapse
|
13
|
Kulminski AM, Huang J, Loika Y, Arbeev KG, Bagley O, Yashkin A, Duan M, Culminskaya I. Strong impact of natural-selection-free heterogeneity in genetics of age-related phenotypes. Aging (Albany NY) 2019; 10:492-514. [PMID: 29615537 PMCID: PMC5892700 DOI: 10.18632/aging.101407] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/12/2017] [Accepted: 03/24/2018] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
A conceptual difficulty in genetics of age-related phenotypes that make individuals vulnerable to disease in post-reproductive life is genetic heterogeneity attributed to an undefined role of evolution in establishing their molecular mechanisms. Here, we performed univariate and pleiotropic genome-wide meta-analyses of 20 age-related phenotypes leveraging longitudinal information in a sample of 33,431 individuals and dealing with the natural-selection-free genetic heterogeneity. We identified 142 non-proxy single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) with phenotype-specific (18 SNPs) and pleiotropic (124 SNPs) associations at genome-wide level. Univariate meta-analysis identified two novel (11.1%) and replicated 16 SNPs whereas pleiotropic meta-analysis identified 115 novel (92.7%) and nine replicated SNPs. Pleiotropic associations for most novel (93.9%) and all replicated SNPs were strongly impacted by the natural-selection-free genetic heterogeneity in its unconventional form of antagonistic heterogeneity, implying antagonistic directions of genetic effects for directly correlated phenotypes. Our results show that the common genome-wide approach is well adapted to handle homogeneous univariate associations within Mendelian framework whereas most associations with age-related phenotypes are more complex and well beyond that framework. Dissecting the natural-selection-free genetic heterogeneity is critical for gaining insights into genetics of age-related phenotypes and has substantial and unexplored yet potential for improving efficiency of genome-wide analysis.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Alexander M Kulminski
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA
| | - Jian Huang
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA
| | - Yury Loika
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA
| | - Konstantin G Arbeev
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA
| | - Olivia Bagley
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA
| | - Arseniy Yashkin
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA
| | - Matt Duan
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA
| | - Irina Culminskaya
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA
| |
Collapse
|
14
|
Kulminski AM, Loika Y, Huang J, Arbeev KG, Bagley O, Ukraintseva S, Yashin AI, Culminskaya I. Pleiotropic Meta-Analysis of Age-Related Phenotypes Addressing Evolutionary Uncertainty in Their Molecular Mechanisms. Front Genet 2019; 10:433. [PMID: 31134135 PMCID: PMC6524409 DOI: 10.3389/fgene.2019.00433] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/13/2018] [Accepted: 04/24/2019] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Age-related phenotypes are characterized by genetic heterogeneity attributed to an uncertain role of evolution in establishing their molecular mechanisms. Here, we performed univariate and pleiotropic meta-analyses of 24 age-related phenotypes dealing with such evolutionary uncertainty and leveraging longitudinal information. Our analysis identified 237 novel single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in 199 loci with phenotype-specific (61 SNPs) and pleiotropic (176 SNPs) associations and replicated associations for 160 SNPs in 68 loci in a modest sample of 26,371 individuals from five longitudinal studies. Most pleiotropic associations (65.3%, 115 of 176 SNPs) were impacted by heterogeneity, with the natural-selection—free genetic heterogeneity as its inevitable component. This pleiotropic heterogeneity was dominated (93%, 107 of 115 SNPs) by antagonistic genetic heterogeneity, a phenomenon that is characterized by antagonistic directions of genetic effects for directly correlated phenotypes. Genetic association studies of age-related phenotypes addressing the evolutionary uncertainty in establishing their molecular mechanisms have power to substantially improve the efficiency of the analyses. A dominant form of heterogeneous pleiotropy, antagonistic genetic heterogeneity, provides unprecedented insight into the genetic origin of age-related phenotypes and side effects in medical care that is counter-intuitive in medical genetics but naturally expected when molecular mechanisms of age-related phenotypes are not due to direct evolutionary selection.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Alexander M Kulminski
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC, United States
| | - Yury Loika
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC, United States
| | - Jian Huang
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC, United States
| | - Konstantin G Arbeev
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC, United States
| | - Olivia Bagley
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC, United States
| | - Svetlana Ukraintseva
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC, United States
| | - Anatoliy I Yashin
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC, United States
| | - Irina Culminskaya
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC, United States
| |
Collapse
|
15
|
Nazarian A, Arbeev KG, Yashkin AP, Kulminski AM. Genetic heterogeneity of Alzheimer's disease in subjects with and without hypertension. GeroScience 2019; 41:137-154. [PMID: 31055733 DOI: 10.1007/s11357-019-00071-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/03/2019] [Accepted: 04/25/2019] [Indexed: 01/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder caused by the interplay of multiple genetic and non-genetic factors. Hypertension is one of the AD risk factors that has been linked to underlying pathological changes like senile plaques and neurofibrillary tangles formation as well as hippocampal atrophy. In this study, we investigated the differences in the genetic architecture of AD between hypertensive and non-hypertensive subjects in four independent cohorts. Our genome-wide association analyses revealed significant associations of 15 novel potentially AD-associated polymorphisms (P < 5E-06) that were located outside the chromosome 19q13 region and were significant either in hypertensive or non-hypertensive groups. The closest genes to 14 polymorphisms were not associated with AD at P < 5E-06 in previous genome-wide association studies (GWAS). Also, four of them were located within two chromosomal regions (i.e., 3q13.11 and 17q21.2) that were not associated with AD at P < 5E-06 before. In addition, 30 genes demonstrated evidence of group-specific associations with AD at the false discovery rates (FDR) < 0.05 in our gene-based and transcriptome-wide association analyses. The chromosomal regions corresponding to four genes (i.e., 2p13.1, 9p13.3, 17q12, and 18q21.1) were not associated with AD at P < 5E-06 in previous GWAS. These genes may serve as a list of prioritized candidates for future functional studies. Our pathway-enrichment analyses revealed the associations of 11 non-group-specific and four group-specific pathways with AD at FDR < 0.05. These findings provided novel insights into the potential genetic heterogeneity of AD among subjects with and without hypertension.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Alireza Nazarian
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Erwin Mill Building, 2024 W. Main St., Durham, NC, 27705, USA.
| | - Konstantin G Arbeev
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Erwin Mill Building, 2024 W. Main St., Durham, NC, 27705, USA
| | - Arseniy P Yashkin
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Erwin Mill Building, 2024 W. Main St., Durham, NC, 27705, USA
| | - Alexander M Kulminski
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Erwin Mill Building, 2024 W. Main St., Durham, NC, 27705, USA.
| |
Collapse
|
16
|
Arbeev KG, Ukraintseva SV, Bagley O, Zhbannikov IY, Cohen AA, Kulminski AM, Yashin AI. "Physiological Dysregulation" as a Promising Measure of Robustness and Resilience in Studies of Aging and a New Indicator of Preclinical Disease. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci 2019; 74:462-468. [PMID: 29939206 PMCID: PMC6417443 DOI: 10.1093/gerona/gly136] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/06/2017] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Recently suggested novel implementation of the statistical distance measure (DM) for evaluating "physiological dysregulation" (PD) in aging individuals (based on measuring deviations of multiple biomarkers from baseline or normal physiological states) allows reducing high-dimensional biomarker space into a single PD estimate. Here we constructed DM using biomarker profiles from FRAMCOHORT (Framingham Heart Study) and CHS (Cardiovascular Health Study) Research Materials obtained from the NHLBI Biologic Specimen and Data Repository Information Coordinating Center, and estimated effect of PD on total survival, onset of unhealthy life (proxy for "robustness") and survival following the onset of unhealthy life (proxy for "resilience"). We investigated relationships between PD and declines in stress resistance and adaptive capacity not directly observed in data. PD was more strongly associated with the onset of unhealthy life than with survival after disease suggesting that declines in robustness and resilience with age may have overlapping as well as distinct mechanisms. We conclude that multiple deviations of physiological markers from their normal states (reflected in higher PD) may contribute to increased vulnerability to many diseases and precede their clinical manifestation. This supports potential use of PD in health care as a preclinical indicator of transition from healthy to unhealthy state.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Konstantin G Arbeev
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC
| | - Svetlana V Ukraintseva
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC
| | - Olivia Bagley
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC
| | - Ilya Y Zhbannikov
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC
| | - Alan A Cohen
- Groupe de recherche PRIMUS, Department of Family Medicine, University of Sherbrooke, Canada
| | - Alexander M Kulminski
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC
| | - Anatoliy I Yashin
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC
| |
Collapse
|
17
|
Kulminski AM, Loika Y, Culminskaya I, Huang J, Arbeev KG, Bagley O, Feitosa MF, Zmuda JM, Christensen K, Yashin AI. Independent associations of TOMM40 and APOE variants with body mass index. Aging Cell 2019; 18:e12869. [PMID: 30462377 PMCID: PMC6351823 DOI: 10.1111/acel.12869] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/06/2018] [Revised: 09/13/2018] [Accepted: 10/04/2018] [Indexed: 02/04/2023] Open
Abstract
The TOMM40-APOE variants are known for their strong, antagonistic associations with Alzheimer's disease and body weight. While a stronger role of the APOE than TOMM40 variants in Alzheimer's disease was suggested, comparative contribution of the TOMM40-APOE variants in the regulation of body weight remains elusive. We examined additive effects of rs2075650 and rs157580 TOMM40 variants and rs429358 and rs7412 APOE variants coding the ε2/ε3/ε4 polymorphism on body mass index (BMI) in age-aggregated and age-stratified cohort-specific and cohort-pooled analysis of 27,863 Caucasians aged 20-100 years from seven longitudinal studies. Minor alleles of rs2075650, rs429358, and rs7412 were individually associated with BMI (β = -1.29, p = 3.97 × 10-9 ; β = -1.38, p = 2.78 × 10-10 ; and β = 0.58, p = 3.04 × 10-2 , respectively). Conditional analysis with rs2075650 and rs429358 identified independent BMI-lowering associations for minor alleles (β = -0.63, p = 3.99 × 10-2 and β = -0.94, p = 2.17 × 10-3 , respectively). Polygenic mega-analysis identified additive effects of the rs2075650 and rs429358 heterozygotes (β = -1.68, p = 3.00 × 10-9 ), and the strongest BMI-lowering association for the rs2075650 heterozygous and rs429358 minor allele homozygous carriers (β = -4.11, p = 2.78 × 10-3 ). Conditional analysis with four polymorphisms identified independent BMI-lowering (rs2075650, rs157580, and rs429358) and BMI-increasing (rs7412) associations of heterozygous genotypes with BMI. Age-stratified conditional analysis revealed well-powered support for a differential and independent association of the rs429358 heterozygote with BMI in younger and older individuals, β = 0.58, 95% confidence interval (CI) = -1.18, 2.35, p = 5.18 × 10-1 for 3,068 individuals aged ≤30 years and β = -4.28, CI = -5.65, -2.92, p = 7.71 × 10-10 for 6,052 individuals aged >80 years. TOMM40 and APOE variants are independently and additively associated with BMI. The APOE ε4-coding rs429358 polymorphism is associated with BMI in older individuals but not in younger individuals.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Alexander M. Kulminski
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research InstituteDuke UniversityDurhamNorth California
| | - Yury Loika
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research InstituteDuke UniversityDurhamNorth California
| | - Irina Culminskaya
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research InstituteDuke UniversityDurhamNorth California
| | - Jian Huang
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research InstituteDuke UniversityDurhamNorth California
| | - Konstantin G. Arbeev
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research InstituteDuke UniversityDurhamNorth California
| | - Olivia Bagley
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research InstituteDuke UniversityDurhamNorth California
| | - Mary F. Feitosa
- Division of Statistical Genomics, Department of GeneticsWashington University School of MedicineSt LouisMissouri
| | - Joseph M. Zmuda
- Department of Epidemiology, Graduate School of Public HealthUniversity of PittsburghPittsburghPennsylvania
| | - Kaare Christensen
- The Danish Aging Research CenterUniversity of Southern DenmarkOdense CDenmark
| | - Anatoliy I. Yashin
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research InstituteDuke UniversityDurhamNorth California
| | | |
Collapse
|
18
|
Kulminski AM, Barochia AV, Loika Y, Raghavachari N, Arbeev KG, Wojczynski MK, Thyagarajan B, Vardarajan BN, Christensen K, Yashin AI, Levine SJ. The APOE ε4 allele is associated with a reduction in FEV1/FVC in women: A cross-sectional analysis of the Long Life Family Study. PLoS One 2018; 13:e0206873. [PMID: 30412599 PMCID: PMC6226172 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0206873] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/05/2018] [Accepted: 10/22/2018] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Murine studies have shown that apolipoprotein E modulates pulmonary function during development, aging, and allergen-induced airway disease. It is not known whether the polymorphic human APOE gene influences pulmonary function. OBJECTIVES We assessed whether an association exists between the polymorphic human APOE ε2, ε3, and ε4 alleles and pulmonary function among participants in the Long Life Family Study. METHODS Data from 4,468 Caucasian subjects who had genotyping performed for the APOE ε2, ε3, and ε4 alleles were analyzed, with and without stratification by sex. Statistical models were fitted considering the effects of the ε2 allele, defined as ε2/2 or ε2/3 genotypes, and the ε4 allele, defined as ε3/4 or ε4/4 genotypes, which were compared to the ε3/3 genotype. RESULTS The mean FEV1/FVC ratio (the forced expiratory volume in one second divided by the forced vital capacity) was lower among women with the ε4 allele as compared to women with the ε3/3 genotype or the ε2 allele. Carriage of the APOE ε4 allele was associated with FEV1/FVC, which implied lower values. Further analysis showed that the association primarily reflected women without lung disease who were older than 70 years. The association was not mediated by lipid levels, smoking status, body mass index, or cardiovascular disease. CONCLUSIONS This study for the first time identifies that the APOE gene is associated with modified lung physiology in women. This suggests that a link may exist between the APOE ε4 allele, female sex, and a reduction in the FEV1/FVC ratio in older individuals.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Alexander M. Kulminski
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Sciences Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC, United States of America
- * E-mail: (AMK); (SJL)
| | - Amisha V. Barochia
- Laboratory of Asthma and Lung Inflammation, Pulmonary Branch, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, Bethesda, MD, United States of America
| | - Yury Loika
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Sciences Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC, United States of America
| | - Nalini Raghavachari
- National Institute on Aging, Gateway Building, Suite, Bethesda, MD, United States of America
| | - Konstantin G. Arbeev
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Sciences Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC, United States of America
| | - Mary K. Wojczynski
- Division of Statistical Genomics, Department of Genetics, School of Medicine, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri, United States of America
| | - Bharat Thyagarajan
- Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, United States of America
| | - Badri N. Vardarajan
- Taub Institute for Research on Alzheimer's Disease and the Aging Brain, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY, United States of America
| | - Kaare Christensen
- The Danish Aging Research Center, University of Southern Denmark, Odense C, Denmark
- Department of Clinical Genetics and Department of Clinical Biochemistry and Pharmacology, Odense University Hospital, Odense C, Denmark
| | - Anatoliy I. Yashin
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Sciences Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC, United States of America
| | - Stewart J. Levine
- Laboratory of Asthma and Lung Inflammation, Pulmonary Branch, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, Bethesda, MD, United States of America
- * E-mail: (AMK); (SJL)
| |
Collapse
|
19
|
Yashin AI, Arbeev KG, Wu D, Arbeeva LS, Bagley O, Stallard E, Kulminski AM, Akushevich I, Fang F, Wojczynski MK, Christensen K, Newman AB, Boudreau RM, Province MA, Thielke S, Perls TT, An P, Elo I, Ukraintseva SV. Genetics of Human Longevity From Incomplete Data: New Findings From the Long Life Family Study. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci 2018; 73:1472-1481. [PMID: 30299504 PMCID: PMC6175028 DOI: 10.1093/gerona/gly057] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/18/2017] [Indexed: 02/04/2023] Open
Abstract
The special design of the Long Life Family Study provides a unique opportunity to investigate the genetics of human longevity by analyzing data on exceptional lifespans in families. In this article, we performed two series of genome wide association studies of human longevity which differed with respect to whether missing lifespan data were predicted or not predicted. We showed that the use of predicted lifespan is most beneficial when the follow-up period is relatively short. In addition to detection of strong associations of SNPs in APOE, TOMM40, NECTIN2, and APOC1 genes with longevity, we also detected a strong new association with longevity of rs1927465, located between the CYP26A1 and MYOF genes on chromosome 10. The association was confirmed using data from the Health and Retirement Study. We discuss the biological relevance of the detected SNPs to human longevity.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Anatoliy I Yashin
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina,Address correspondence to: Anatoliy I. Yashin, PhD, Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina. E-mail:
| | - Konstantin G Arbeev
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina
| | - Deqing Wu
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina
| | - Liubov S Arbeeva
- Thurston Arthritis Research Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
| | - Olivia Bagley
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina
| | - Eric Stallard
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina
| | - Alexander M Kulminski
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina
| | - Igor Akushevich
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina
| | - Fang Fang
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina
| | - Mary K Wojczynski
- Department of Genetics, Washington University School of Medicine in St Louis, St Louis, Missouri
| | - Kaare Christensen
- Department of Epidemiology, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark
| | - Anne B Newman
- Department of Epidemiology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
| | - Robert M Boudreau
- Department of Epidemiology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
| | - Michael A Province
- Department of Genetics, Washington University in St Louis, St Louis, Missouri
| | | | - Thomas T Perls
- Medical Center, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts
| | - Ping An
- Department of Genetics, Washington University School of Medicine in St Louis, St Louis, Missouri
| | - Irma Elo
- Department of Sociology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
| | - Svetlana V Ukraintseva
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina
| |
Collapse
|
20
|
Arbeeva LS, Hanson HA, Arbeev KG, Kulminski AM, Stallard E, Ukraintseva SV, Wu D, Boudreau RM, Province MA, Smith KR, Yashin AI. How Well Does the Family Longevity Selection Score Work: A Validation Test Using the Utah Population Database. Front Public Health 2018; 6:277. [PMID: 30327761 PMCID: PMC6174319 DOI: 10.3389/fpubh.2018.00277] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/06/2018] [Accepted: 09/10/2018] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
The Family Longevity Selection Score (FLoSS) was used to select families for the Long Life Family Study (LLFS) but has never been validated in other populations. The goal of this paper is to validate how well the FLoSS-based selection procedure works in an independent dataset. In this paper, we computed FLoSS using the lifespan data of 234,155 individuals from a large comprehensive genealogically-based resource, the Utah Population Database (UPDB), born between 1779 and 1910 with mortality follow-up through 2012-2013. Computations of FLoSS in a specific year (1980) confirmed the survival advantage of the "exceptional" sibships (defined by LLFS FLoSS threshold, FLoSS ≥ 7). We found that the subsample of the UPDB participants born after 1900 who were from the "exceptional" sibships had survival curves similar to that of the US participants from the LLFS probands' generation. Comparisons between the offspring of parents with "exceptional" and "ordinary" survival showed the survival advantage of the "exceptional" offspring. Investigators seeking to explain the extent genetics and environment contribute to exceptional survival will benefit from the use of exceptionally long-lived individuals and their relatives. Appropriate ranking of families by survival exceptionality and their availability for the purposes of providing genetic and phenotypic data is critical for selecting participants into such studies. This study validated the FLoSS as selection criteria in family longevity studies using UPDB.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Liubov S. Arbeeva
- Thurston Arthritis Research Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, United States
| | - Heidi A. Hanson
- Department of Surgery, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, United States
- Population Sciences, Huntsman Cancer Institute, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, United States
| | - Konstantin G. Arbeev
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC, United States
| | - Alexander M. Kulminski
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC, United States
| | - Eric Stallard
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC, United States
| | - Svetlana V. Ukraintseva
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC, United States
| | - Deqing Wu
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC, United States
| | - Robert M. Boudreau
- Department of Epidemiology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States
| | - Michael A. Province
- Division of Statistical Genomics, Department of Genetics, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, United States
| | - Ken R. Smith
- Population Sciences, Huntsman Cancer Institute, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, United States
- Department of Family and Consumer Sciences, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, United States
| | - Anatoliy I. Yashin
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC, United States
| |
Collapse
|
21
|
Abstract
Motivation Despite recent advances of modern GWAS methods, it is still remains an important problem of addressing calculation an effect size and corresponding p-value for the whole gene rather than for single variant. Results We developed an R package rqt, which offers gene-level GWAS meta-analysis. The package can be easily included into bioinformatics pipeline or used stand-alone. We applied this tool to the analysis of Alzheimer's disease data from three datasets CHS, FHS and LOADFS. Test results from meta-analysis of three Alzheimer studies show its applicability for association testing. Availability and implementation The package rqt is freely available under the following link: https://github.com/izhbannikov/rqt. Contact ilya.zhbannikov@duke.edu. Supplementary information Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Ilya Y Zhbannikov
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit (BARU), Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA
| | - Konstantin G Arbeev
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit (BARU), Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA
| | - Anatoliy I Yashin
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit (BARU), Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA
| |
Collapse
|
22
|
Steenstrup T, Kark JD, Verhulst S, Thinggaard M, Hjelmborg JVB, Dalgård C, Kyvik KO, Christiansen L, Mangino M, Spector TD, Petersen I, Kimura M, Benetos A, Labat C, Sinnreich R, Hwang SJ, Levy D, Hunt SC, Fitzpatrick AL, Chen W, Berenson GS, Barbieri M, Paolisso G, Gadalla SM, Savage SA, Christensen K, Yashin AI, Arbeev KG, Aviv A. Telomeres and the natural lifespan limit in humans. Aging (Albany NY) 2018; 9:1130-1142. [PMID: 28394764 PMCID: PMC5425118 DOI: 10.18632/aging.101216] [Citation(s) in RCA: 68] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/10/2016] [Accepted: 03/23/2017] [Indexed: 02/04/2023]
Abstract
An ongoing debate in demography has focused on whether the human lifespan has a maximal natural limit. Taking a mechanistic perspective, and knowing that short telomeres are associated with diminished longevity, we examined whether telomere length dynamics during adult life could set a maximal natural lifespan limit. We define leukocyte telomere length of 5 kb as the 'telomeric brink', which denotes a high risk of imminent death. We show that a subset of adults may reach the telomeric brink within the current life expectancy and more so for a 100-year life expectancy. Thus, secular trends in life expectancy should confront a biological limit due to crossing the telomeric brink.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Troels Steenstrup
- Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Biodemography, Institute of Public Health, University of Southern Denmark, Odense 5000, Denmark
| | - Jeremy D Kark
- Epidemiology Unit, Hebrew University-Hadassah School of Public Health and Community Medicine, Jerusalem 91120, Israel
| | - Simon Verhulst
- Groningen Institute for Evolutionary Life Sciences, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands
| | - Mikael Thinggaard
- Department of Clinical Genetics, Odense University Hospital, Odense 5220, Denmark.,Danish Aging Research Center, University of Southern Denmark, Odense 5000, Denmark
| | - Jacob V B Hjelmborg
- Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Biodemography, Institute of Public Health, University of Southern Denmark, Odense 5000, Denmark.,The Danish Twin Registry, University of Southern Denmark, Odense 5220, Denmark
| | - Christine Dalgård
- Department of Public Health, Environmental Medicine, University of Southern Denmark, 5000 Odense C, Denmark
| | - Kirsten Ohm Kyvik
- Department of Clinical Research, University of Southern Denmark and Odense Patient Data Explorative Network (OPEN), Odense University Hospital, Odense, Denmark
| | - Lene Christiansen
- Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Biodemography, Institute of Public Health, University of Southern Denmark, Odense 5000, Denmark.,Danish Aging Research Center, University of Southern Denmark, Odense 5000, Denmark.,The Danish Twin Registry, University of Southern Denmark, Odense 5220, Denmark
| | - Massimo Mangino
- Department of Twin Research and Genetic Epidemiology, King's College London, London, UK.,NIHI Biomedical Research Center at Guy's and St Thomas Foundation Trust, London SE1 9RT, UK
| | - Timothy D Spector
- Department of Twin Research and Genetic Epidemiology, King's College London, London, UK
| | - Inge Petersen
- Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Biodemography, Institute of Public Health, University of Southern Denmark, Odense 5000, Denmark
| | - Masayuki Kimura
- Center of Human Development and Aging, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, New Jersey Medical School, Newark, NJ 07103, USA
| | - Athanase Benetos
- Department of Geriatrics, University Hospital of Nancy, F54500, France.,INSERM, U1116, Vandoeuvre-les-Nancy, F54500, France.,Université de Lorraine, Nancy, F54000, France
| | - Carlos Labat
- INSERM, U1116, Vandoeuvre-les-Nancy, F54500, France.,Université de Lorraine, Nancy, F54000, France
| | - Ronit Sinnreich
- Epidemiology Unit, Hebrew University-Hadassah School of Public Health and Community Medicine, Jerusalem 91120, Israel
| | - Shih-Jen Hwang
- Population Sciences Branch of the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, Bethesda, MD and the Framingham Heart Study, Framingham, MA 01702, USA
| | - Daniel Levy
- Population Sciences Branch of the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, Bethesda, MD and the Framingham Heart Study, Framingham, MA 01702, USA
| | - Steven C Hunt
- Cardiovascular Genetics Division, Department of Medicine, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14850 USA
| | | | - Wei Chen
- Center for Cardiovascular Health, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA 07118, USA
| | - Gerald S Berenson
- Center for Cardiovascular Health, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA 07118, USA
| | - Michelangela Barbieri
- Department of Medical, Surgery, Neurologic, Metabolic and Aging Science, University of Campania "Luigi Vanvtelli" 80138 Naples, Italy
| | - Giuseppe Paolisso
- Department of Medical, Surgery, Neurologic, Metabolic and Aging Science, University of Campania "Luigi Vanvtelli" 80138 Naples, Italy
| | - Shahinaz M Gadalla
- Clinical Genetics Branch, Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD 20890, USA
| | - Sharon A Savage
- Clinical Genetics Branch, Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD 20890, USA
| | - Kaare Christensen
- Department of Clinical Genetics, Odense University Hospital, Odense 5220, Denmark.,Danish Aging Research Center, University of Southern Denmark, Odense 5000, Denmark.,The Danish Twin Registry, University of Southern Denmark, Odense 5220, Denmark
| | - Anatoliy I Yashin
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA
| | - Konstantin G Arbeev
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA
| | - Abraham Aviv
- Center of Human Development and Aging, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, New Jersey Medical School, Newark, NJ 07103, USA
| |
Collapse
|
23
|
He L, Kernogitski Y, Kulminskaya I, Loika Y, Arbeev KG, Loiko E, Bagley O, Duan M, Yashkin A, Ukraintseva SV, Kovtun M, Yashin AI, Kulminski AM. Corrigendum: Pleiotropic Meta-Analyses of Longitudinal Studies Discover Novel Genetic Variants Associated with Age-Related Diseases. Front Genet 2018; 8:226. [PMID: 29375618 PMCID: PMC5771150 DOI: 10.3389/fgene.2017.00226] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/29/2017] [Accepted: 12/15/2017] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Liang He
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC, United States
| | - Yelena Kernogitski
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC, United States
| | - Irina Kulminskaya
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC, United States
| | - Yury Loika
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC, United States
| | - Konstantin G Arbeev
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC, United States
| | - Elena Loiko
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC, United States
| | - Olivia Bagley
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC, United States
| | - Matt Duan
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC, United States
| | - Arseniy Yashkin
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC, United States
| | - Svetlana V Ukraintseva
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC, United States
| | - Mikhail Kovtun
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC, United States
| | - Anatoliy I Yashin
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC, United States
| | - Alexander M Kulminski
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC, United States
| |
Collapse
|
24
|
He L, Zhbannikov I, Arbeev KG, Yashin AI, Kulminski AM. A genetic stochastic process model for genome-wide joint analysis of biomarker dynamics and disease susceptibility with longitudinal data. Genet Epidemiol 2017; 41:620-635. [PMID: 28636232 PMCID: PMC5643257 DOI: 10.1002/gepi.22058] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/06/2017] [Revised: 05/06/2017] [Accepted: 05/17/2017] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
Abstract
Unraveling the underlying biological mechanisms or pathways behind the effects of genetic variations on complex diseases remains one of the major challenges in the post-GWAS (where GWAS is genome-wide association study) era. To further explore the relationship between genetic variations, biomarkers, and diseases for elucidating underlying pathological mechanism, a huge effort has been placed on examining pleiotropic and gene-environmental interaction effects. We propose a novel genetic stochastic process model (GSPM) that can be applied to GWAS and jointly investigate the genetic effects on longitudinally measured biomarkers and risks of diseases. This model is characterized by more profound biological interpretation and takes into account the dynamics of biomarkers during follow-up when investigating the hazards of a disease. We illustrate the rationale and evaluate the performance of the proposed model through two GWAS. One is to detect single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) having interaction effects on type 2 diabetes (T2D) with body mass index (BMI) and the other is to detect SNPs affecting the optimal BMI level for protecting from T2D. We identified multiple SNPs that showed interaction effects with BMI on T2D, including a novel SNP rs11757677 in the CDKAL1 gene (P = 5.77 × 10-7 ). We also found a SNP rs1551133 located on 2q14.2 that reversed the effect of BMI on T2D (P = 6.70 × 10-7 ). In conclusion, the proposed GSPM provides a promising and useful tool in GWAS of longitudinal data for interrogating pleiotropic and interaction effects to gain more insights into the relationship between genes, quantitative biomarkers, and risks of complex diseases.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Liang He
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708
| | - Ilya Zhbannikov
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708
| | - Konstantin G. Arbeev
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708
| | - Anatoliy I. Yashin
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708
| | - Alexander M. Kulminski
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708
| |
Collapse
|
25
|
He L, Culminskaya I, Loika Y, Arbeev KG, Bagley O, Duan M, Yashin AI, Kulminski AM. Causal effects of cardiovascular risk factors on onset of major age-related diseases: A time-to-event Mendelian randomization study. Exp Gerontol 2017; 107:74-86. [PMID: 28964830 DOI: 10.1016/j.exger.2017.09.019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/15/2017] [Revised: 09/01/2017] [Accepted: 09/26/2017] [Indexed: 01/10/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUNDS Elucidating the causal effects of common intermediate risk factors on the onset of age-related diseases is indispensable for developing prevention and intervention procedures. METHODS We conducted two-stage time-to-event Mendelian randomization meta-analyses combining five large-scale longitudinal cohorts to investigate dynamic causal effects of cardiovascular disease risk factors including body mass index (BMI), systolic blood pressure (SBP), and lipids on the age-at-onset of age-related diseases. We constructed weighted polygenic scores based on genetic markers from previously reported genome-wide association studies as instrumental variables to estimate the causal effects. To avoid false positive due to potential pleiotropic effects of the genetic markers, we performed a leave-one-out sensitivity analysis and an MR-Egger sensitivity analysis that we expanded in the survival context. RESULTS Our results show that elevated BMI increases the absolute risk of type 2 diabetes (T2D) (p=7.68e-04), heart failure (p=9.03e-03), and cardiovascular diseases (CVD) (p=1.69e-03) and the causal effects start at different ages. A significant association between BMI and the risk of stroke is observed; however, the sensitivity analyses suggest that the association is attributed to the potential pleiotropic effects of rs2867125 and rs1558902. Raised SBP levels are significantly associated with the development of atrial fibrillation (p=6.42e-03). Low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) levels are inversely associated with the age-at-onset of T2D (p=1.05e-02). In addition, LDL-C and triglycerides are inversely associated with the risks of cancer and T2D, respectively. Nevertheless, the sensitivity analyses suggest that these associations are probably due to pleiotropic effects of several single-nucleotide polymorphisms including rs4970834 and rs1260326. CONCLUSIONS Our results highlight the involvement of BMI in the development of multiple age-related diseases. Some observed causal associations can attribute to pleiotropic effects of some genetic variations. These findings have important implications in unraveling causal effects of common risk factors on age-related diseases and guiding effective intervention strategies to reduce the incidence of these diseases.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Liang He
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA.
| | - Irina Culminskaya
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA
| | - Yury Loika
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA
| | - Konstantin G Arbeev
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA
| | - Olivia Bagley
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA
| | - Matt Duan
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA
| | - Anatoliy I Yashin
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA
| | - Alexander M Kulminski
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA.
| |
Collapse
|
26
|
Abstract
Simulation is important in evaluating novel methods when input data is not easily obtainable or specific assumptions are needed. We present
cophesim, a software to add the phenotype to generated genotype data prepared with a genetic simulator. The output of
cophesim can be used as a direct input for different genome wide association study tools.
cophesim is available from
https://bitbucket.org/izhbannikov/cophesim.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Ilya Y Zhbannikov
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit (BARU) at Social Sciences Research Institute (SSRI), Duke University, Durham, NC, 27705, USA
| | - Konstantin G Arbeev
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit (BARU) at Social Sciences Research Institute (SSRI), Duke University, Durham, NC, 27705, USA
| | - Anatoliy I Yashin
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit (BARU) at Social Sciences Research Institute (SSRI), Duke University, Durham, NC, 27705, USA
| |
Collapse
|
27
|
Kulminski AM, Kernogitski Y, Culminskaya I, Loika Y, Arbeev KG, Bagley O, Duan M, Arbeeva L, Ukraintseva SV, Wu D, Stallard E, Yashin AI. Uncoupling associations of risk alleles with endophenotypes and phenotypes: insights from the ApoB locus and heart-related traits. Aging Cell 2017; 16:61-72. [PMID: 27683205 PMCID: PMC5242299 DOI: 10.1111/acel.12526] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 08/10/2016] [Indexed: 12/04/2022] Open
Abstract
Traditionally, genomewide association studies (GWAS) have emphasized the benefits of large samples in the analyses of age‐related traits rather than their specific properties. We adopted a realistic concept of genetic susceptibility to inherently heterogeneous, age‐related traits driven by the elusive role of evolution in their properties. We analyzed in detail the associations of rs693 and rs562338 polymorphisms representing the Apolipoprotein B locus with endophenotypes (total cholesterol [TC] and high‐density lipoprotein cholesterol) and phenotypes (myocardial infarction [MI] and survival) in four large‐scale studies, which include 20 748 individuals with 2357 MI events. We showed that a strong, robust predisposition of rs693 and rs562338 to TC (β = 0.72, P = 7.7 × 10−30 for rs693 and β = −1.08, P = 9.8 × 10−42 for rs562338) is not translated into a predisposition to MI and survival. The rs693_A allele influences risks of MI and mortality after MI additively with lipids. This allele shows antagonistic effects—protecting against MI risks (β = −0.18, P = 1.1 × 10−5) or increasing MI risks (β = 0.15, P = 2.8 × 10−3) and mortality after MI, in different populations. Paradoxically, increased TC concentrations can be protective against MI for the rs693_A allele carriers. Our results uncouple the influences of the same alleles on endophenotypes and phenotypes despite potential causal relationships among the latter. Our strategy reveals virtually genomewide significance for the associations of rs693 with MI (P = 5.5 × 10−8) that is contrasted with a weak estimate following the traditional, sample‐size‐centered GWAS strategy (P = 0.16) in the same sample. These results caution against the use of the traditional GWAS strategy for gaining profound insights into genetic predisposition to healthspan and lifespan.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Alexander M. Kulminski
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit; Social Science Research Institute; Duke University; Durham NC 27708-0408 USA
| | - Yelena Kernogitski
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit; Social Science Research Institute; Duke University; Durham NC 27708-0408 USA
| | - Irina Culminskaya
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit; Social Science Research Institute; Duke University; Durham NC 27708-0408 USA
| | - Yury Loika
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit; Social Science Research Institute; Duke University; Durham NC 27708-0408 USA
| | - Konstantin G. Arbeev
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit; Social Science Research Institute; Duke University; Durham NC 27708-0408 USA
| | - Olivia Bagley
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit; Social Science Research Institute; Duke University; Durham NC 27708-0408 USA
| | - Matt Duan
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit; Social Science Research Institute; Duke University; Durham NC 27708-0408 USA
| | - Liubov Arbeeva
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit; Social Science Research Institute; Duke University; Durham NC 27708-0408 USA
| | - Svetlana V. Ukraintseva
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit; Social Science Research Institute; Duke University; Durham NC 27708-0408 USA
| | - Deqing Wu
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit; Social Science Research Institute; Duke University; Durham NC 27708-0408 USA
| | - Eric Stallard
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit; Social Science Research Institute; Duke University; Durham NC 27708-0408 USA
| | - Anatoliy I. Yashin
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit; Social Science Research Institute; Duke University; Durham NC 27708-0408 USA
| |
Collapse
|
28
|
Kulminski AM, He L, Culminskaya I, Loika Y, Kernogitski Y, Arbeev KG, Loiko E, Arbeeva L, Bagley O, Duan M, Yashkin A, Fang F, Kovtun M, Ukraintseva SV, Wu D, Yashin AI. Pleiotropic Associations of Allelic Variants in a 2q22 Region with Risks of Major Human Diseases and Mortality. PLoS Genet 2016; 12:e1006314. [PMID: 27832070 PMCID: PMC5104356 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1006314] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/01/2016] [Accepted: 08/22/2016] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Gaining insights into genetic predisposition to age-related diseases and lifespan is a challenging task complicated by the elusive role of evolution in these phenotypes. To gain more insights, we combined methods of genome-wide and candidate-gene studies. Genome-wide scan in the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) Study (N = 9,573) was used to pre-select promising loci. Candidate-gene methods were used to comprehensively analyze associations of novel uncommon variants in Caucasians (minor allele frequency~2.5%) located in band 2q22.3 with risks of coronary heart disease (CHD), heart failure (HF), stroke, diabetes, cancer, neurodegenerative diseases (ND), and mortality in the ARIC study, the Framingham Heart Study (N = 4,434), and the Health and Retirement Study (N = 9,676). We leveraged the analyses of pleiotropy, age-related heterogeneity, and causal inferences. Meta-analysis of the results from these comprehensive analyses shows that the minor allele increases risks of death by about 50% (p = 4.6×10−9), CHD by 35% (p = 8.9×10−6), HF by 55% (p = 9.7×10−5), stroke by 25% (p = 4.0×10−2), and ND by 100% (p = 1.3×10−3). This allele also significantly influences each of two diseases, diabetes and cancer, in antagonistic fashion in different populations. Combined significance of the pleiotropic effects was p = 6.6×10−21. Causal mediation analyses show that endophenotypes explained only small fractions of these effects. This locus harbors an evolutionary conserved gene-desert region with non-coding intergenic sequences likely involved in regulation of protein-coding flanking genes ZEB2 and ACVR2A. This region is intensively studied for mutations causing severe developmental/genetic disorders. Our analyses indicate a promising target region for interventions aimed to reduce risks of many major human diseases and mortality. Biomedical research and medical care are traditionally focused on individual health conditions in order to postpone, ameliorate, or prevent the accumulation of morbidities in late life. An attractive idea is to find factors, which could reduce burden of not just one disease but a major subset of them to efficiently extend healthy lifespan. Here we focus on the analyses of genetic predisposition to risks of major human age-related diseases and mortality. The analyses highlight a locus in band 2q22.3 associated with risks of coronary heart disease, heart failure, stroke, diabetes, cancer, neurodegenerative diseases, and death. Our analyses indicate a promising target region for interventions aimed to reduce risks of many major human diseases and mortality.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Alexander M. Kulminski
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC United States of America
- * E-mail:
| | - Liang He
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC United States of America
| | - Irina Culminskaya
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC United States of America
| | - Yury Loika
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC United States of America
| | - Yelena Kernogitski
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC United States of America
| | - Konstantin G. Arbeev
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC United States of America
| | - Elena Loiko
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC United States of America
| | - Liubov Arbeeva
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC United States of America
| | - Olivia Bagley
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC United States of America
| | - Matt Duan
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC United States of America
| | - Arseniy Yashkin
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC United States of America
| | - Fang Fang
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC United States of America
| | - Mikhail Kovtun
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC United States of America
| | - Svetlana V. Ukraintseva
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC United States of America
| | - Deqing Wu
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC United States of America
| | - Anatoliy I. Yashin
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC United States of America
| |
Collapse
|
29
|
Yashin AI, Zhbannikov I, Arbeeva L, Arbeev KG, Wu D, Akushevich I, Yashkin A, Kovtun M, Kulminski AM, Stallard E, Kulminskaya I, Ukraintseva S. Pure and Confounded Effects of Causal SNPs on Longevity: Insights for Proper Interpretation of Research Findings in GWAS of Populations with Different Genetic Structures. Front Genet 2016; 7:188. [PMID: 27877192 PMCID: PMC5099244 DOI: 10.3389/fgene.2016.00188] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/30/2016] [Accepted: 10/07/2016] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
This paper shows that the effects of causal SNPs on lifespan, estimated through GWAS, may be confounded and the genetic structure of the study population may be responsible for this effect. Simulation experiments show that levels of linkage disequilibrium (LD) and other parameters of the population structure describing connections between two causal SNPs may substantially influence separate estimates of the effect of the causal SNPs on lifespan. This study suggests that differences in LD levels between two causal SNP loci within two study populations may contribute to the failure to replicate previous GWAS findings. The results of this paper also show that successful replication of the results of genetic association studies does not necessarily guarantee proper interpretation of the effect of a causal SNP on lifespan.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Anatoliy I Yashin
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University Durham, NC, USA
| | - Ilya Zhbannikov
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University Durham, NC, USA
| | - Liubov Arbeeva
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University Durham, NC, USA
| | - Konstantin G Arbeev
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University Durham, NC, USA
| | - Deqing Wu
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University Durham, NC, USA
| | - Igor Akushevich
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University Durham, NC, USA
| | - Arseniy Yashkin
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University Durham, NC, USA
| | - Mikhail Kovtun
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University Durham, NC, USA
| | - Alexander M Kulminski
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University Durham, NC, USA
| | - Eric Stallard
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University Durham, NC, USA
| | - Irina Kulminskaya
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University Durham, NC, USA
| | - Svetlana Ukraintseva
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University Durham, NC, USA
| |
Collapse
|
30
|
He L, Kernogitski Y, Kulminskaya I, Loika Y, Arbeev KG, Loiko E, Bagley O, Duan M, Yashkin A, Ukraintseva SV, Kovtun M, Yashin AI, Kulminski AM. Pleiotropic Meta-Analyses of Longitudinal Studies Discover Novel Genetic Variants Associated with Age-Related Diseases. Front Genet 2016; 7:179. [PMID: 27790247 PMCID: PMC5061751 DOI: 10.3389/fgene.2016.00179] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/09/2016] [Accepted: 09/21/2016] [Indexed: 01/31/2023] Open
Abstract
Age-related diseases may result from shared biological mechanisms in intrinsic processes of aging. Genetic effects on age-related diseases are often modulated by environmental factors due to their little contribution to fitness or are mediated through certain endophenotypes. Identification of genetic variants with pleiotropic effects on both common complex diseases and endophenotypes may reveal potential conflicting evolutionary pressures and deliver new insights into shared genetic contribution to healthspan and lifespan. Here, we performed pleiotropic meta-analyses of genetic variants using five NIH-funded datasets by integrating univariate summary statistics for age-related diseases and endophenotypes. We investigated three groups of traits: (1) endophenotypes such as blood glucose, blood pressure, lipids, hematocrit, and body mass index, (2) time-to-event outcomes such as the age-at-onset of diabetes mellitus (DM), cancer, cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) and neurodegenerative diseases (NDs), and (3) both combined. In addition to replicating previous findings, we identify seven novel genome-wide significant loci (< 5e-08), out of which five are low-frequency variants. Specifically, from Group 2, we find rs7632505 on 3q21.1 in SEMA5B, rs460976 on 21q22.3 (1 kb from TMPRSS2) and rs12420422 on 11q24.1 predominantly associated with a variety of CVDs, rs4905014 in ITPK1 associated with stroke and heart failure, rs7081476 on 10p12.1 in ANKRD26 associated with multiple diseases including DM, CVDs, and NDs. From Group 3, we find rs8082812 on 18p11.22 and rs1869717 on 4q31.3 associated with both endophenotypes and CVDs. Our follow-up analyses show that rs7632505, rs4905014, and rs8082812 have age-dependent effects on coronary heart disease or stroke. Functional annotation suggests that most of these SNPs are within regulatory regions or DNase clusters and in linkage disequilibrium with expression quantitative trait loci, implying their potential regulatory influence on the expression of nearby genes. Our mediation analyses suggest that the effects of some SNPs are mediated by specific endophenotypes. In conclusion, these findings indicate that loci with pleiotropic effects on age-related disorders tend to be enriched in genes involved in underlying mechanisms potentially related to nervous, cardiovascular and immune system functions, stress resistance, inflammation, ion channels and hematopoiesis, supporting the hypothesis of shared pathological role of infection, and inflammation in chronic age-related diseases.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Liang He
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke UniversityDurham, NC, USA
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | - Alexander M. Kulminski
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke UniversityDurham, NC, USA
| |
Collapse
|
31
|
Kulminski AM, Raghavachari N, Arbeev KG, Culminskaya I, Arbeeva L, Wu D, Ukraintseva SV, Christensen K, Yashin AI. Protective role of the apolipoprotein E2 allele in age-related disease traits and survival: evidence from the Long Life Family Study. Biogerontology 2016; 17:893-905. [PMID: 27447179 DOI: 10.1007/s10522-016-9659-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/16/2016] [Accepted: 07/16/2016] [Indexed: 01/12/2023]
Abstract
The apolipoprotein E (apoE) is a classic example of a gene exhibiting pleiotropism. We examine potential pleiotropic associations of the apoE2 allele in three biodemographic cohorts of long-living individuals, offspring, and spouses from the Long Life Family Study, and intermediate mechanisms, which can link this allele with age-related phenotypes. We focused on age-related macular degeneration, bronchitis, asthma, pneumonia, stroke, creatinine, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, diseases of heart (HD), cancer, and survival. Our analysis detected favorable associations of the ε2 allele with lower LDL-C levels, lower risks of HD, and better survival. The ε2 allele was associated with LDL-C in each gender and biodemographic cohort, including long-living individuals, offspring, and spouses, resulting in highly significant association in the entire sample (β = -7.1, p = 6.6 × 10-44). This allele was significantly associated with HD in long-living individuals and offspring (relative risk [RR] = 0.60, p = 3.1 × 10-6) but this association was not mediated by LDL-C. The protective effect on survival was specific for long-living women but it was not explained by LDL-C and HD in the adjusted model (RR = 0.70, p = 2.1 × 10-2). These results show that ε2 allele may favorably influence LDL-C, HD, and survival through three mechanisms. Two of them (HD- and survival-related) are pronounced in the long-living parents and their offspring; the survival-related mechanism is also sensitive to gender. The LDL-C-related mechanism appears to be independent of these factors. Insights into mechanisms linking ε2 allele with age-related phenotypes given biodemographic structure of the population studied may benefit translation of genetic discoveries to health care and personalized medicine.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Alexander M Kulminski
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC, 27708-0408, USA.
| | - Nalini Raghavachari
- National Institute on Aging, 31 Center Drive, MSC 2292, Bethesda, MD, 20892, USA
| | - Konstantin G Arbeev
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC, 27708-0408, USA
| | - Irina Culminskaya
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC, 27708-0408, USA
| | - Liubov Arbeeva
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC, 27708-0408, USA
| | - Deqing Wu
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC, 27708-0408, USA
| | - Svetlana V Ukraintseva
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC, 27708-0408, USA
| | - Kaare Christensen
- The Danish Aging Research Center, University of Southern Denmark, 5000, Odense C, Denmark
- Department of Clinical Genetics and Department of Clinical Biochemistry and Pharmacology, Odense University Hospital, 5000, Odense C, Denmark
| | - Anatoliy I Yashin
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC, 27708-0408, USA
| |
Collapse
|
32
|
Yashin AI, Arbeev KG, Wu D, Arbeeva L, Kulminski A, Kulminskaya I, Akushevich I, Ukraintseva SV. How Genes Modulate Patterns of Aging-Related Changes on the Way to 100: Biodemographic Models and Methods in Genetic Analyses of Longitudinal Data. N Am Actuar J 2016; 20:201-232. [PMID: 27773987 PMCID: PMC5070546 DOI: 10.1080/10920277.2016.1178588] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE To clarify mechanisms of genetic regulation of human aging and longevity traits, a number of genome-wide association studies (GWAS) of these traits have been performed. However, the results of these analyses did not meet expectations of the researchers. Most detected genetic associations have not reached a genome-wide level of statistical significance, and suffered from the lack of replication in the studies of independent populations. The reasons for slow progress in this research area include low efficiency of statistical methods used in data analyses, genetic heterogeneity of aging and longevity related traits, possibility of pleiotropic (e.g., age dependent) effects of genetic variants on such traits, underestimation of the effects of (i) mortality selection in genetically heterogeneous cohorts, (ii) external factors and differences in genetic backgrounds of individuals in the populations under study, the weakness of conceptual biological framework that does not fully account for above mentioned factors. One more limitation of conducted studies is that they did not fully realize the potential of longitudinal data that allow for evaluating how genetic influences on life span are mediated by physiological variables and other biomarkers during the life course. The objective of this paper is to address these issues. DATA AND METHODS We performed GWAS of human life span using different subsets of data from the original Framingham Heart Study cohort corresponding to different quality control (QC) procedures and used one subset of selected genetic variants for further analyses. We used simulation study to show that approach to combining data improves the quality of GWAS. We used FHS longitudinal data to compare average age trajectories of physiological variables in carriers and non-carriers of selected genetic variants. We used stochastic process model of human mortality and aging to investigate genetic influence on hidden biomarkers of aging and on dynamic interaction between aging and longevity. We investigated properties of genes related to selected variants and their roles in signaling and metabolic pathways. RESULTS We showed that the use of different QC procedures results in different sets of genetic variants associated with life span. We selected 24 genetic variants negatively associated with life span. We showed that the joint analyses of genetic data at the time of bio-specimen collection and follow up data substantially improved significance of associations of selected 24 SNPs with life span. We also showed that aging related changes in physiological variables and in hidden biomarkers of aging differ for the groups of carriers and non-carriers of selected variants. CONCLUSIONS . The results of these analyses demonstrated benefits of using biodemographic models and methods in genetic association studies of these traits. Our findings showed that the absence of a large number of genetic variants with deleterious effects may make substantial contribution to exceptional longevity. These effects are dynamically mediated by a number of physiological variables and hidden biomarkers of aging. The results of these research demonstrated benefits of using integrative statistical models of mortality risks in genetic studies of human aging and longevity.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Anatoliy I. Yashin
- Professor, Center for Population Health and Aging, Duke University, 2024 W. Main Street, Room A102E, Durham, NC 27705, USA. Tel.: (+1) 919-668-2713; Fax: (+1) 919-684-3861
| | - Konstantin G. Arbeev
- Sr. Research Scientist, Center for Population Health and Aging, Duke University, 2024 W. Main Street, Room A102F, Durham, NC 27705, USA. Tel.: (+1) 919-668-2707; Fax: (+1) 919-684-3861
| | - Deqing Wu
- Sr. Research Scientist, Center for Population Health and Aging, Duke University, 2024 W. Main Street, Room A104, Durham, NC 27705, USA. Tel.: (+1) 919-684-6126; Fax: (+1) 919-684-3861
| | - Liubov Arbeeva
- Statistician, Center for Population Health and Aging, Duke University, 2024 W. Main Street, Room A102G, Durham, NC 27705, USA. Tel.: (+1) 919-613-0715; Fax: (+1) 919-684-3861
| | - Alexander Kulminski
- Sr. Research Scientist, Center for Population Health and Aging, Duke University, 2024 W. Main Street, Room A106, Durham, NC 27705, USA. Tel.: (+1) 919-684-4962; Fax: (+1) 919-684-3861
| | - Irina Kulminskaya
- Research Scientist, Center for Population Health and Aging, Duke University, 2024 W. Main Street, Room A102D, Durham, NC 27705, USA. Tel.: (+1) 919-681-8232; Fax: (+1) 919-684-3861
| | - Igor Akushevich
- Sr. Research Scientist, Center for Population Health and Aging, Duke University, 2024 W. Main Street, Room A107, Durham, NC 27705, USA. Tel.: (+1) 919-668-2715; Fax: (+1) 919-684-3861
| | - Svetlana V. Ukraintseva
- Sr. Research Scientist, Center for Population Health and Aging, Duke University, 2024 W. Main Street, Room A105, Durham, NC 27705, USA. Tel.: (+1) 919-668-2712; Fax: (+1) 919-684-3861
| |
Collapse
|
33
|
Arbeev KG, Ukraintseva SV, Yashin AI. Dynamics of biomarkers in relation to aging and mortality. Mech Ageing Dev 2016; 156:42-54. [PMID: 27138087 PMCID: PMC4899173 DOI: 10.1016/j.mad.2016.04.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/24/2015] [Revised: 04/08/2016] [Accepted: 04/26/2016] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
Contemporary longitudinal studies collect repeated measurements of biomarkers allowing one to analyze their dynamics in relation to mortality, morbidity, or other health-related outcomes. Rich and diverse data collected in such studies provide opportunities to investigate how various socio-economic, demographic, behavioral and other variables can interact with biological and genetic factors to produce differential rates of aging in individuals. In this paper, we review some recent publications investigating dynamics of biomarkers in relation to mortality, which use single biomarkers as well as cumulative measures combining information from multiple biomarkers. We also discuss the analytical approach, the stochastic process models, which conceptualizes several aging-related mechanisms in the structure of the model and allows evaluating "hidden" characteristics of aging-related changes indirectly from available longitudinal data on biomarkers and follow-up on mortality or onset of diseases taking into account other relevant factors (both genetic and non-genetic). We also discuss an extension of the approach, which considers ranges of "optimal values" of biomarkers rather than a single optimal value as in the original model. We discuss practical applications of the approach to single biomarkers and cumulative measures highlighting that the potential of applications to cumulative measures is still largely underused.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Konstantin G Arbeev
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit (BARU), Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, 2024 W. Main St., Room A102F, Box 90420, Durham, NC 27705, USA.
| | - Svetlana V Ukraintseva
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit (BARU), Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, 2024 W. Main St., Room A102F, Box 90420, Durham, NC 27705, USA
| | - Anatoliy I Yashin
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit (BARU), Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, 2024 W. Main St., Room A102F, Box 90420, Durham, NC 27705, USA
| |
Collapse
|
34
|
Ukraintseva S, Yashin AI, Arbeev KG. Resilience Versus Robustness in Aging. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci 2016; 71:1533-1534. [PMID: 27146372 DOI: 10.1093/gerona/glw083] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/16/2016] [Accepted: 04/14/2016] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Svetlana Ukraintseva
- Center for Population Health and Aging, Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina.
| | - Anatoliy I Yashin
- Center for Population Health and Aging, Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina
| | - Konstantin G Arbeev
- Center for Population Health and Aging, Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina
| |
Collapse
|
35
|
Arbeev KG, Cohen AA, Arbeeva LS, Milot E, Stallard E, Kulminski AM, Akushevich I, Ukraintseva SV, Christensen K, Yashin AI. Optimal Versus Realized Trajectories of Physiological Dysregulation in Aging and Their Relation to Sex-Specific Mortality Risk. Front Public Health 2016; 4:3. [PMID: 26835445 PMCID: PMC4725219 DOI: 10.3389/fpubh.2016.00003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/04/2015] [Accepted: 01/11/2016] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
While longitudinal changes in biomarker levels and their impact on health have been characterized for individual markers, little is known about how overall marker profiles may change during aging and affect mortality risk. We implemented the recently developed measure of physiological dysregulation based on the statistical distance of biomarker profiles in the framework of the stochastic process model of aging, using data on blood pressure, heart rate, cholesterol, glucose, hematocrit, body mass index, and mortality in the Framingham original cohort. This allowed us to evaluate how physiological dysregulation is related to different aging-related characteristics such as decline in stress resistance and adaptive capacity (which typically are not observed in the data and thus can be analyzed only indirectly), and, ultimately, to estimate how such dynamic relationships increase mortality risk with age. We found that physiological dysregulation increases with age; that increased dysregulation is associated with increased mortality, and increasingly so with age; and that, in most but not all cases, there is a decreasing ability to return quickly to baseline physiological state with age. We also revealed substantial sex differences in these processes, with women becoming dysregulated more quickly but with men showing a much greater sensitivity to dysregulation in terms of mortality risk.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Konstantin G. Arbeev
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit (BARU), Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
| | - Alan A. Cohen
- Groupe de Recherche PRIMUS, Department of Family Medicine, CHUS-Fleurimont, University of Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, QC, Canada
| | - Liubov S. Arbeeva
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit (BARU), Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
| | - Emmanuel Milot
- Groupe de Recherche PRIMUS, Department of Family Medicine, CHUS-Fleurimont, University of Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, QC, Canada
| | - Eric Stallard
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit (BARU), Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
| | - Alexander M. Kulminski
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit (BARU), Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
| | - Igor Akushevich
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit (BARU), Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
| | - Svetlana V. Ukraintseva
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit (BARU), Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
| | - Kaare Christensen
- The Danish Aging Research Center, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark
- Department of Clinical Genetics, Odense University Hospital, Odense, Denmark
- Department of Clinical Biochemistry and Pharmacology, Odense University Hospital, Odense, Denmark
| | - Anatoliy I. Yashin
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit (BARU), Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
| |
Collapse
|
36
|
Kulminski AM, Arbeev KG, Culminskaya I, Ukraintseva SV, Stallard E, Province MA, Yashin AI. Trade-offs in the effects of the apolipoprotein E polymorphism on risks of diseases of the heart, cancer, and neurodegenerative disorders: insights on mechanisms from the Long Life Family Study. Rejuvenation Res 2016; 18:128-35. [PMID: 25482294 DOI: 10.1089/rej.2014.1616] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
The lack of evolutionary established mechanisms linking genes to age-related traits makes the problem of genetic susceptibility to health span inherently complex. One complicating factor is genetic trade-off. Here we focused on long-living participants of the Long Life Family Study (LLFS), their offspring, and spouses to: (1) Elucidate whether trade-offs in the effect of the apolipoprotein E e4 allele documented in the Framingham Heart Study (FHS) are a more general phenomenon, and (2) explore potential mechanisms generating age- and gender-specific trade-offs in the effect of the e4 allele on cancer, diseases of the heart, and neurodegenerative disorders assessed retrospectively in the LLFS populations. The e4 allele can diminish risks of cancer and diseases of the heart and confer risks of diseases of the heart in a sex-, age-, and LLFS-population-specific manner. A protective effect against cancer is seen in older long-living men and, potentially, their sons (>75 years, relative risk [RR]>75=0.48, p=0.086), which resembles our findings in the FHS. The protective effect against diseases of the heart is limited to long-living older men (RR>76=0.50, p=0.016), as well. A detrimental effect against diseases of the heart is characteristic for a normal LLFS population of male spouses and is specific for myocardial infarction (RR=3.07, p=2.1×10(-3)). These trade-offs are likely associated with two inherently different mechanisms, including disease-specific (detrimental; characteristic for a normal male population) and systemic, aging-related (protective; characteristic for older long-living men) mechanisms. The e4 allele confers risks of neurological disorders in men and women (RR=1.98, p=0.046). The results highlight the complex role of the e4 allele in genetic susceptibility to health span.
Collapse
|
37
|
Akushevich I, Kravchenko J, Arbeev KG, Ukraintseva SV, Land KC, Yashin AI. Health Effects and Medicare Trajectories: Population-Based Analysis of Morbidity and Mortality Patterns. Biodemography of Aging 2016. [DOI: 10.1007/978-94-017-7587-8_3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
|
38
|
Kulminski AM, Culminskaya I, Arbeev KG, Arbeeva L, Ukraintseva SV, Stallard E, Wu D, Yashin AI. Birth Cohort, Age, and Sex Strongly Modulate Effects of Lipid Risk Alleles Identified in Genome-Wide Association Studies. PLoS One 2015; 10:e0136319. [PMID: 26295473 PMCID: PMC4546650 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0136319] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/17/2015] [Accepted: 08/02/2015] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Insights into genetic origin of diseases and related traits could substantially impact strategies for improving human health. The results of genome-wide association studies (GWAS) are often positioned as discoveries of unconditional risk alleles of complex health traits. We re-analyzed the associations of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with total cholesterol (TC) in a large-scale GWAS meta-analysis. We focused on three generations of genotyped participants of the Framingham Heart Study (FHS). We show that the effects of all ten directly-genotyped SNPs were clustered in different FHS generations and/or birth cohorts in a sex-specific or sex-unspecific manner. The sample size and procedure-therapeutic issues play, at most, a minor role in this clustering. An important result was clustering of significant associations with the strongest effects in the youngest, or 3rd Generation, cohort. These results imply that an assumption of unconditional connections of these SNPs with TC is generally implausible and that a demographic perspective can substantially improve GWAS efficiency. The analyses of genetic effects in age-matched samples suggest a role of environmental and age-related mechanisms in the associations of different SNPs with TC. Analysis of the literature supports systemic roles for genes for these SNPs beyond those related to lipid metabolism. Our analyses reveal strong antagonistic effects of rs2479409 (the PCSK9 gene) that cautions strategies aimed at targeting this gene in the next generation of lipid drugs. Our results suggest that standard GWAS strategies need to be advanced in order to appropriately address the problem of genetic susceptibility to complex traits that is imperative for translation to health care.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Alexander M. Kulminski
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC, 27708–0408, United States of America
- * E-mail:
| | - Irina Culminskaya
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC, 27708–0408, United States of America
| | - Konstantin G. Arbeev
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC, 27708–0408, United States of America
| | - Liubov Arbeeva
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC, 27708–0408, United States of America
| | - Svetlana V. Ukraintseva
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC, 27708–0408, United States of America
| | - Eric Stallard
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC, 27708–0408, United States of America
| | - Deqing Wu
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC, 27708–0408, United States of America
| | - Anatoliy I. Yashin
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC, 27708–0408, United States of America
| |
Collapse
|
39
|
Yashin AI, Arbeev KG, Arbeeva LS, Wu D, Akushevich I, Kovtun M, Yashkin A, Kulminski A, Culminskaya I, Stallard E, Li M, Ukraintseva SV. How the effects of aging and stresses of life are integrated in mortality rates: insights for genetic studies of human health and longevity. Biogerontology 2015; 17:89-107. [PMID: 26280653 DOI: 10.1007/s10522-015-9594-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/13/2015] [Accepted: 07/25/2015] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Abstract
Increasing proportions of elderly individuals in developed countries combined with substantial increases in related medical expenditures make the improvement of the health of the elderly a high priority today. If the process of aging by individuals is a major cause of age related health declines then postponing aging could be an efficient strategy for improving the health of the elderly. Implementing this strategy requires a better understanding of genetic and non-genetic connections among aging, health, and longevity. We review progress and problems in research areas whose development may contribute to analyses of such connections. These include genetic studies of human aging and longevity, the heterogeneity of populations with respect to their susceptibility to disease and death, forces that shape age patterns of human mortality, secular trends in mortality decline, and integrative mortality modeling using longitudinal data. The dynamic involvement of genetic factors in (i) morbidity/mortality risks, (ii) responses to stresses of life, (iii) multi-morbidities of many elderly individuals, (iv) trade-offs for diseases, (v) genetic heterogeneity, and (vi) other relevant aging-related health declines, underscores the need for a comprehensive, integrated approach to analyze the genetic connections for all of the above aspects of aging-related changes. The dynamic relationships among aging, health, and longevity traits would be better understood if one linked several research fields within one conceptual framework that allowed for efficient analyses of available longitudinal data using the wealth of available knowledge about aging, health, and longevity already accumulated in the research field.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Anatoliy I Yashin
- The Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA. .,The Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, 2024 W. Main Street, Room A102E, Durham, NC, 27705, USA.
| | - Konstantin G Arbeev
- The Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
| | - Liubov S Arbeeva
- The Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
| | - Deqing Wu
- The Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
| | - Igor Akushevich
- The Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
| | - Mikhail Kovtun
- The Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
| | - Arseniy Yashkin
- The Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
| | - Alexander Kulminski
- The Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
| | - Irina Culminskaya
- The Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
| | - Eric Stallard
- The Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
| | - Miaozhu Li
- The Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
| | - Svetlana V Ukraintseva
- The Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA.,The Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, 2024 W. Main Street, Room A105, Durham, NC, 27705, USA
| |
Collapse
|
40
|
Yashin AI, Wu D, Arbeeva LS, Arbeev KG, Kulminski AM, Akushevich I, Kovtun M, Culminskaya I, Stallard E, Li M, Ukraintseva SV. Genetics of aging, health, and survival: dynamic regulation of human longevity related traits. Front Genet 2015; 6:122. [PMID: 25918517 PMCID: PMC4394697 DOI: 10.3389/fgene.2015.00122] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/30/2014] [Accepted: 03/16/2015] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Background: The roles of genetic factors in human longevity would be better understood if one can use more efficient methods in genetic analyses and investigate pleiotropic effects of genetic variants on aging and health related traits. Data and methods: We used EMMAX software with modified correction for population stratification to perform genome wide association studies (GWAS) of female lifespan from the original FHS cohort. The male data from the original FHS cohort and male and female data combined from the offspring FHS cohort were used to confirm findings. We evaluated pleiotropic effects of selected genetic variants as well as gene-smoking interactions on health and aging related traits. Then we reviewed current knowledge on functional properties of genes related to detected variants. Results: The eight SNPs with genome-wide significant variants were negatively associated with lifespan in both males and females. After additional QC, two of these variants were selected for further analyses of their associations with major diseases (cancer and CHD) and physiological aging changes. Gene-smoking interactions contributed to these effects. Genes closest to detected variants appear to be involved in similar biological processes and health disorders, as those found in other studies of aging and longevity e.g., in cancer and neurodegeneration. Conclusions: The impact of genes on longevity may involve trade-off-like effects on different health traits. Genes that influence lifespan represent various molecular functions but may be involved in similar biological processes and health disorders, which could contribute to genetic heterogeneity of longevity and the lack of replication in genetic association studies.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Anatoliy I Yashin
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Center for Population Health and Aging, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University Durham, NC, USA
| | - Deqing Wu
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Center for Population Health and Aging, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University Durham, NC, USA
| | - Liubov S Arbeeva
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Center for Population Health and Aging, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University Durham, NC, USA
| | - Konstantin G Arbeev
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Center for Population Health and Aging, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University Durham, NC, USA
| | - Alexander M Kulminski
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Center for Population Health and Aging, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University Durham, NC, USA
| | - Igor Akushevich
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Center for Population Health and Aging, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University Durham, NC, USA
| | - Mikhail Kovtun
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Center for Population Health and Aging, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University Durham, NC, USA ; Integrative Genomic Analysis Shared Resource, Duke Center for Genomic and Computational Biology, Duke University Durham, NC, USA
| | - Irina Culminskaya
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Center for Population Health and Aging, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University Durham, NC, USA
| | - Eric Stallard
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Center for Population Health and Aging, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University Durham, NC, USA
| | - Miaozhu Li
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Center for Population Health and Aging, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University Durham, NC, USA
| | - Svetlana V Ukraintseva
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Center for Population Health and Aging, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University Durham, NC, USA
| |
Collapse
|
41
|
Arbeev KG, Akushevich I, Kulminski AM, Ukraintseva SV, Yashin AI. Biodemographic Analyses of Longitudinal Data on Aging, Health, and Longevity: Recent Advances and Future Perspectives. Adv Geriatr 2015; 2014:957073. [PMID: 25590047 PMCID: PMC4290867 DOI: 10.1155/2014/957073] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
Biodemography became one of the most innovative and fastest growing areas in demography. This progress is fueled by the growing variability and amount of relevant data available for analyses as well as by methodological developments allowing for addressing new research questions using new approaches that can better utilize the potential of these data. In this review paper, we summarize recent methodological advances in biodemography and their diverse practical applications. Three major topics are covered: (1) computational approaches to reconstruction of age patterns of incidence of geriatric diseases and other characteristics such as recovery rates at the population level using Medicare claims data; (2) methodological advances in genetic and genomic biodemography and applications to research on genetic determinants of longevity and health; and (3) biodemographic models for joint analyses of time-to-event data and longitudinal measurements of biomarkers collected in longitudinal studies on aging. We discuss how such data and methodology can be used in a comprehensive prediction model for joint analyses of incomplete datasets that take into account the wide spectrum of factors affecting health and mortality transitions including genetic factors and hidden mechanisms of aging-related changes in physiological variables in their dynamic connection with health and survival.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Konstantin G Arbeev
- Center for Population Health and Aging, Duke University, Erwin Mill Building, 2024 W. Main Street, P.O. Box 90420, Durham, NC 27705, USA
| | - Igor Akushevich
- Center for Population Health and Aging, Duke University, Erwin Mill Building, 2024 W. Main Street, P.O. Box 90420, Durham, NC 27705, USA
| | - Alexander M Kulminski
- Center for Population Health and Aging, Duke University, Erwin Mill Building, 2024 W. Main Street, P.O. Box 90420, Durham, NC 27705, USA
| | - Svetlana V Ukraintseva
- Center for Population Health and Aging, Duke University, Erwin Mill Building, 2024 W. Main Street, P.O. Box 90420, Durham, NC 27705, USA
| | - Anatoliy I Yashin
- Center for Population Health and Aging, Duke University, Erwin Mill Building, 2024 W. Main Street, P.O. Box 90420, Durham, NC 27705, USA
| |
Collapse
|
42
|
Arbeev KG, Akushevich I, Kulminski AM, Ukraintseva SV, Yashin AI. Joint Analyses of Longitudinal and Time-to-Event Data in Research on Aging: Implications for Predicting Health and Survival. Front Public Health 2014; 2:228. [PMID: 25414844 PMCID: PMC4222133 DOI: 10.3389/fpubh.2014.00228] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/29/2014] [Accepted: 10/24/2014] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Longitudinal data on aging, health, and longevity provide a wealth of information to investigate different aspects of the processes of aging and development of diseases leading to death. Statistical methods aimed at analyses of time-to-event data jointly with longitudinal measurements became known as the "joint models" (JM). An important point to consider in analyses of such data in the context of studies on aging, health, and longevity is how to incorporate knowledge and theories about mechanisms and regularities of aging-related changes that accumulate in the research field into respective analytic approaches. In the absence of specific observations of longitudinal dynamics of relevant biomarkers manifesting such mechanisms and regularities, traditional approaches have a rather limited utility to estimate respective parameters that can be meaningfully interpreted from the biological point of view. A conceptual analytic framework for these purposes, the stochastic process model of aging (SPM), has been recently developed in the biodemographic literature. It incorporates available knowledge about mechanisms of aging-related changes, which may be hidden in the individual longitudinal trajectories of physiological variables and this allows for analyzing their indirect impact on risks of diseases and death. Despite, essentially, serving similar purposes, JM and SPM developed in parallel in different disciplines with very limited cross-referencing. Although there were several publications separately reviewing these two approaches, there were no publications presenting both these approaches in some detail. Here, we overview both approaches jointly and provide some new modifications of SPM. We discuss the use of stochastic processes to capture biological variation and heterogeneity in longitudinal patterns and important and promising (but still largely underused) applications of JM and SPM to predictions of individual and population mortality and health-related outcomes.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | - Igor Akushevich
- Center for Population Health and Aging, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
| | | | | | - Anatoliy I. Yashin
- Center for Population Health and Aging, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
| |
Collapse
|
43
|
Kulminski AM, Arbeev KG, Culminskaya I, Arbeeva L, Ukraintseva SV, Stallard E, Christensen K, Schupf N, Province MA, Yashin AI. Age, gender, and cancer but not neurodegenerative and cardiovascular diseases strongly modulate systemic effect of the Apolipoprotein E4 allele on lifespan. PLoS Genet 2014; 10:e1004141. [PMID: 24497847 PMCID: PMC3907310 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1004141] [Citation(s) in RCA: 46] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/03/2013] [Accepted: 12/06/2013] [Indexed: 02/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Enduring interest in the Apolipoprotein E (ApoE) polymorphism is ensured by its evolutionary-driven uniqueness in humans and its prominent role in geriatrics and gerontology. We use large samples of longitudinally followed populations from the Framingham Heart Study (FHS) original and offspring cohorts and the Long Life Family Study (LLFS) to investigate gender-specific effects of the ApoE4 allele on human survival in a wide range of ages from midlife to extreme old ages, and the sensitivity of these effects to cardiovascular disease (CVD), cancer, and neurodegenerative disorders (ND). The analyses show that women's lifespan is more sensitive to the e4 allele than men's in all these populations. A highly significant adverse effect of the e4 allele is limited to women with moderate lifespan of about 70 to 95 years in two FHS cohorts and the LLFS with relative risk of death RR = 1.48 (p = 3.6×10−6) in the FHS cohorts. Major human diseases including CVD, ND, and cancer, whose risks can be sensitive to the e4 allele, do not mediate the association of this allele with lifespan in large FHS samples. Non-skin cancer non-additively increases mortality of the FHS women with moderate lifespans increasing the risks of death of the e4 carriers with cancer two-fold compared to the non-e4 carriers, i.e., RR = 2.07 (p = 5.0×10−7). The results suggest a pivotal role of non-sex-specific cancer as a nonlinear modulator of survival in this sample that increases the risk of death of the ApoE4 carriers by 150% (p = 5.3×10−8) compared to the non-carriers. This risk explains the 4.2 year shorter life expectancy of the e4 carriers compared to the non-carriers in this sample. The analyses suggest the existence of age- and gender-sensitive systemic mechanisms linking the e4 allele to lifespan which can non-additively interfere with cancer-related mechanisms. Discovering genetic origins of healthspan and lifespan could lead to breakthroughs in increasing the years of healthy and long life. In this paper we characterize the association of the e4 allele of the well-studied ApoE gene with lifespan in two generations of participants of large longitudinal studies, the Framingham Heart Study and the Long Life Family Study, and investigate the role of major human diseases such as cardiovascular disease, cancer, and neurodegenerative disorders in this association. This wide range of systemic analyses is possible given the large sample with directly genotyped ApoE polymorphism available from these studies (N = 9841, with 2557 deaths). The analyses show that women's lifespan is more sensitive to the e4 allele than men's in these populations. However, the strongly adverse effect of the e4 allele is not observed for all women, but only for those 70 to 95 years old. Cardiovascular disease, cancer, and neurodegenerative disorders do not mediate the association of the e4 allele with lifespan. However, cancer, but not cardiovascular and neurodegenerative diseases, non-additively enhances this effect resulting in 4.2 years of difference in mean lifespan for the e4 allele carriers compared to the non-carriers.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Alexander M. Kulminski
- Center for Population Health and Aging, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, United States of America
- Institute for Genome Science and Policy, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, United States of America
- Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, United States of America
- * E-mail:
| | - Konstantin G. Arbeev
- Center for Population Health and Aging, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, United States of America
- Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, United States of America
| | - Irina Culminskaya
- Center for Population Health and Aging, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, United States of America
- Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, United States of America
| | - Liubov Arbeeva
- Center for Population Health and Aging, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, United States of America
| | - Svetlana V. Ukraintseva
- Center for Population Health and Aging, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, United States of America
- Institute for Genome Science and Policy, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, United States of America
- Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, United States of America
- Duke Cancer Institute, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, United States of America
| | - Eric Stallard
- Center for Population Health and Aging, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, United States of America
- Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, United States of America
| | - Kaare Christensen
- The Danish Aging Research Center, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark
- Department of Clinical Genetics and Department of Clinical Biochemistry and Pharmacology, Odense University Hospital, Odense, Denmark
| | - Nicole Schupf
- Taub Institute for Research on Alzheimer's Disease and the Aging Brain, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, New York, United States of America
| | - Michael A. Province
- Washington University School of Medicine, Division of Statistical Genomics, St. Louis, Missouri, United States of America
| | - Anatoli I. Yashin
- Center for Population Health and Aging, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, United States of America
- Institute for Genome Science and Policy, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, United States of America
- Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, United States of America
- Duke Cancer Institute, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, United States of America
| |
Collapse
|
44
|
Yashin AI, Wu D, Arbeev KG, Arbeeva LS, Akushevich I, Kulminski A, Culminskaya I, Stallard E, Ukraintseva SV. Genetic Structures of Population Cohorts Change with Increasing Age: Implications for Genetic Analyses of Human aging and Life Span. Ann Gerontol Geriatr Res 2014; 1:1020. [PMID: 25893220 PMCID: PMC4398390] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/04/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Correcting for the potential effects of population stratification is an important issue in genome wide association studies (GWAS) of complex traits. Principal component analysis (PCA) of the genetic structure of the population under study with subsequent incorporation of the first several principal components (PCs) in the GWAS regression model is often used for this purpose. PROBLEM For longevity related traits such a correction may negatively affect the accuracy of genetic analyses. This is because PCs may capture genetic structure induced by mortality selection processes in genetically heterogeneous populations. DATA AND METHODS We used the Framingham Heart Study data on life span and on individual genetic background to construct two sets of PCs. One was constructed to separate population stratification due to differences in ancestry from that induced by mortality selection. The other was constructed using genetic data on individuals of different ages without attempting to separate the ancestry effects from the mortality selection effects. The GWASs of human life span were performed using the first 20 PCs from each of the selected sets to control for possible population stratification. RESULTS The results indicated that the GWAS that used the PC set separating population stratification induced by mortality selection from differences in ancestry produced stronger genetic signals than the GWAS that used PCs without such separation. CONCLUSION The quality of genetic estimates in GWAS can be improved when changes in genetic structure caused by mortality selection are taken into account in controlling for possible effects of population stratification.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Anatoliy I. Yashin
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Duke University, USA
- Duke Cancer Institute, Duke University, USA
| | - Deqing Wu
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Duke University, USA
| | | | | | | | | | | | - Eric Stallard
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Duke University, USA
| | - Svetlana V. Ukraintseva
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Duke University, USA
- Duke Cancer Institute, Duke University, USA
| |
Collapse
|
45
|
Kulminski AM, Culminskaya I, Arbeev KG, Ukraintseva SV, Arbeeva L, Yashin AI. Trade-off in the effect of the APOE gene on the ages at onset of cardiocascular disease and cancer across ages, gender, and human generations. Rejuvenation Res 2013; 16:28-34. [PMID: 23094790 DOI: 10.1089/rej.2012.1362] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/13/2023] Open
Abstract
Decades of studies of candidate genes show their complex role in aging-related traits. We focus on apolipoprotein E e2/3/4 polymorphism and ages at onset of cardiovascular diseases (CVD) and cancer in the parental and offspring generations of the Framingham Heart Study participants to gain insights on the role of age and gender across generations in genetic trade-offs. The analyses show that the apolipoprotein E e4 allele carriers live longer lives without cancer than the non-e4 allele carriers in each generation. The role of the e4 allele in onset of CVD is age- and generation-specific, constituting two modes of sexually dimorphic genetic trade-offs. In offspring, the e4 allele confers risk of CVD primarily in women and can protect against cancer primarily in men of the same age. In the parental generation, genetic trade-off is seen in different age groups, with a protective role of the e4 allele against cancer in older men and its detrimental role in CVD in younger women. The puzzling complexity of genetic mechanisms working in different genders, ages, and environments calls for more detail and systemic analyses beyond those adapted in current large-scale genetic association studies.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Alexander M Kulminski
- Center for Population Health and Aging, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina 27708, USA.
| | | | | | | | | | | |
Collapse
|
46
|
Yashin AI, Arbeev KG, Wu D, Arbeeva LS, Kulminski AM, Akushevich I, Culminskaya I, Stallard E, Ukraintseva SV. How the quality of GWAS of human lifespan and health span can be improved. Front Genet 2013; 4:125. [PMID: 23825477 PMCID: PMC3695378 DOI: 10.3389/fgene.2013.00125] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/21/2013] [Accepted: 06/10/2013] [Indexed: 01/06/2023] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Anatoliy I Yashin
- Center for Population Health and Aging, Duke University Population Research Institute, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University , Durham, NC, USA
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Collapse
|
47
|
Yashin AI, Wu D, Arbeev KG, Kulminski AM, Stallard E, Ukraintseva SV. Why does melanoma metastasize into the brain? Genes with pleiotropic effects might be the key. Front Genet 2013; 4:75. [PMID: 23641255 PMCID: PMC3640189 DOI: 10.3389/fgene.2013.00075] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/05/2013] [Accepted: 04/15/2013] [Indexed: 12/26/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Anatoliy I Yashin
- Center for Population Health and Aging, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University Durham, NC, USA
| | | | | | | | | | | |
Collapse
|
48
|
Kulminski AM, Culminskaya I, Arbeev KG, Ukraintseva SV, Stallard E, Arbeeva L, Yashin AI. The role of lipid-related genes, aging-related processes, and environment in healthspan. Aging Cell 2013; 12:237-46. [PMID: 23320904 DOI: 10.1111/acel.12046] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 12/21/2012] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
The inherent complexity of aging-related traits can temper progress in unraveling the genetic origins of healthspan. We focus on two generations in the Framingham Heart Study, the original (FHS) and offspring (FHSO) cohorts, to determine whether aging-related processes in changing environments can substantially impact the role of lipid-related genes discovered in candidate gene (the apolipoprotein E (APOE) e2/3/4 polymorphism) and genome-wide (the APOB rs1042034 (C/T)) studies, in regulation of total cholesterol (TC) and onset of cardiovascular disease (CVD). We demonstrate that the APOE e4 allele and APOB CC genotype can play detrimental, neutral, and protective sex-specific roles in the etiology of CVD at different ages and in different environments. We document antagonistic roles for the e4 allele in the onset of CVD characterized by detrimental effects at younger ages (RR≤ 75 years = 1.49, P = 7.5 × 10(-4) ) and protective effects at older ages (RR76+years = 0.77, P = 0.044) for FHS participants. We found that disregarding the role of aging erroneously nullifies the significant effects of the e4 allele in this sample (RR = 0.92, P = 0.387). The leading biogenetic pathways mediating genetic effects on CVD may be more relevant to lipid metabolism for APOB than APOE. Aging-related processes can modulate the strength of genetic associations with TC in the same individuals at different chronological ages. We found substantial differences in the effects of the same APOE and APOB alleles on CVD and TC across generations. The results suggest that aging-related processes in changing environments may play key roles in the genetics of healthspan. Detailed systemic integrative analyses may substantially advance the progress.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Alexander M. Kulminski
- Center for Population Health and Aging; Duke University; Trent Hall; Room 002; Box 90408; Durham; NC; 27708; USA
| | - Irina Culminskaya
- Center for Population Health and Aging; Duke University; Trent Hall; Room 002; Box 90408; Durham; NC; 27708; USA
| | - Konstantin G. Arbeev
- Center for Population Health and Aging; Duke University; Trent Hall; Room 002; Box 90408; Durham; NC; 27708; USA
| | - Svetlana V. Ukraintseva
- Center for Population Health and Aging; Duke University; Trent Hall; Room 002; Box 90408; Durham; NC; 27708; USA
| | - Eric Stallard
- Center for Population Health and Aging; Duke University; Trent Hall; Room 002; Box 90408; Durham; NC; 27708; USA
| | - Liubov Arbeeva
- Center for Population Health and Aging; Duke University; Trent Hall; Room 002; Box 90408; Durham; NC; 27708; USA
| | - Anatoli I. Yashin
- Center for Population Health and Aging; Duke University; Trent Hall; Room 002; Box 90408; Durham; NC; 27708; USA
| |
Collapse
|
49
|
Yashin AI, Arbeev KG, Wu D, Arbeeva LS, Kulminski A, Akushevich I, Culminskaya I, Stallard E, Ukraintseva SV. How lifespan associated genes modulate aging changes: lessons from analysis of longitudinal data. Front Genet 2013; 4:3. [PMID: 23346098 PMCID: PMC3551204 DOI: 10.3389/fgene.2013.00003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/31/2012] [Accepted: 01/04/2013] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE The influence of genes on human lifespan is mediated by biological processes that characterize body's functioning. The age trajectories of these processes contain important information about mechanisms linking aging, health, and lifespan. The objective of this paper is to investigate regularities of aging changes in different groups of individuals, including individuals with different genetic background, as well as their connections with health and lifespan. DATA AND METHOD To reach this objective we used longitudinal data on four physiological variables, information about health and lifespan collected in the Framingham Heart Study (FHS), data on longevity alleles detected in earlier study, as well as methods of statistical modeling. RESULTS We found that phenotypes of exceptional longevity and health are linked to distinct types of changes in physiological indices during aging. We also found that components of aging changes differ in groups of individuals with different genetic background. CONCLUSIONS These results suggest that factors responsible for exceptional longevity and health are not necessary the same, and that postponing aging changes is associated with extreme longevity. The genetic factors which increase lifespan are associated with physiological changes typical of healthy and long-living individuals, smaller mortality risks from cancer and CVD and better estimates of adaptive capacity in statistical modeling. This indicates that extreme longevity and health related traits are likely to be less heterogeneous phenotypes than lifespan, and studying these phenotypes separately from lifespan may provide additional information about mechanisms of human aging and its relation to chronic diseases and lifespan.
Collapse
|
50
|
Kulminski AM, Arbeev KG, Christensen K, Stallard E, Miljkovic I, Barmada M, Yashin AI. Biogenetic mechanisms predisposing to complex phenotypes in parents may function differently in their children. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci 2012; 68:760-8. [PMID: 23213029 DOI: 10.1093/gerona/gls243] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/25/2022] Open
Abstract
This study focuses on the participants of the Long Life Family Study to elucidate whether biogenetic mechanisms underlying relationships among heritable complex phenotypes in parents function in the same way for the same phenotypes in their children. Our results reveal 3 characteristic groups of relationships among phenotypes in parents and children. One group composed of 3 pairs of phenotypes confirms that associations among some phenotypes can be explained by the same biogenetic mechanisms working in parents and children. Two other groups including 9 phenotype pairs show that this is not a common rule. Our findings suggest that biogenetic mechanisms underlying relationships among different phenotypes, even if they are causally related, can function differently in successive generations or in different age groups of biologically related individuals. The results suggest that the role of aging-related processes in changing environment may be conceptually underestimated in current genetic association studies using genome wide resources.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Alexander M Kulminski
- Center for Population Health and Aging, Duke University, Box 90408, Trent Hall, Room 002, Durham, NC 27708, USA.
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Collapse
|