HIV accelerates epigenetic aging
Anna Devyataykina, PCR.news
Recently, it has been possible to achieve a significant increase in life expectancy in HIV-infected people. But at the same time, data began to appear that such patients develop chronic heart disease, kidney disease and neurocognitive disorders earlier. It is assumed that all these symptoms are associated with accelerated aging, but the definition of aging remains an open question. The authors measured the epigenetic age of HIV patients and compared it with healthy controls.
American scientists examined blood samples from 102 men before HIV infection and some time after (the average time between visits is 2.9 years). The analysis also included a similar control group. The subjects had sex with other men and participated in a Multicenter AIDS Cohort Study (MACS).
To study aging, the researchers selected four types of epigenetic clocks, which are based on the analysis of methylation patterns. These were the external epigenetic clock (Extrinsic Epigenetic Age Acceleration, EEAA), which are sensitive to the presence of naive and aging T-cells, the phenotypic genetic clock (Phenotypic Epigenetic Age Acceleration, PEAA), the aging acceleration test (Age-Acceleration Residual, AAR) and an indicator originally developed to assess aging in smokers (Grim Epigenetic Age Acceleration, GEAA). These tests allow us to identify differences between biological and chronological age. Another parameter under study was the measurement of telomere lengths. This is the terminal part of the DNA molecule, which shortens with each cell division during aging.
EEAA and PEAA showed an average increase in epigenetic age by 4.8 years in the group of HIV-positive patients compared with the control group. This, according to the researchers, suggests that living with HIV even for two to three years is associated with a 20% risk of shortening life expectancy. AAR showed an acceleration of aging by 1.9 years, and GEAA was practically the same in the two groups. Telomeres were shortened in the group of HIV-positive men, while their length remained almost unchanged in the controls.
However, the results obtained may be partly related to the damage of T cells of the immune system in HIV infection. The authors tried to exclude its influence. At the same time, aging based on EEAA, PEAA and telomere shortening remained accelerated in people with HIV. This suggests that infection contributes to aging regardless of the death of immune cells.
Scientists emphasize that this type of research — before and after HIV infection – was conducted for the first time. And, although the work had a number of limitations, including the participation of people of only one sex, it shows the influence of even the early stages of the disease on the acceleration of epigenetic aging. "Our long—term goal is to determine whether we can use any of the detected patterns to predict an increased risk of developing age-related diseases, and thus find new targets for therapy," concludes Beth Jamison, associate professor at the University of California at Los Angeles and one of the authors of the article.
Article by Breen et al. Accelerated aging with HIV begins at the time of initial HIV infection is published in the journal iScience.
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