Living in adverse neighborhood environments have been linked to increased risk of aging-related diseases and mortality; however, the biological mechanisms explaining this observation remain poorly understood. DNA methylation (DNAm), a proposed biomarker of biological aging responsive to environmental stressors, offers promising insight into molecular pathways. We examined associations of three measures of neighborhood conditions (poverty, quality, and social cohesion) with three different epigenetic clocks (Horvath, Hannum, and Levine) using data from the Detroit Neighborhood Health Study (n=158). Using linear regression models, we evaluated associations in the total sample and stratified by gender and social cohesion. Differential effects by gender were found between men and women. Neighborhood poverty was associated with PhenoAge acceleration among women, but not among men (women: β = 1.4; 95% CI: -0.4, 3.3 vs. men: β = -0.3; 95% CI: -2.2, 1.5) in fully adjusted models. In models stratified on social cohesion, association of neighborhood poverty and quality with accelerated DNAm aging remained elevated for residents living in neighborhoods with lower social cohesion, but were null for those living in neighborhoods with higher social cohesion. Our study suggests that living in adverse neighborhood conditions can speed up epigenetic aging, while positive neighborhood characteristics may buffer effects.

中文翻译：

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邻里环境，社会凝聚力和表观遗传的衰老

生活在不利的邻里环境中已导致与衰老相关的疾病和死亡的风险增加；然而，解释这种观察的生物学机制仍然知之甚少。DNA甲基化（DNAm）是一种拟议的生物衰老生物标志物，可响应环境压力，为分子途径提供了有前途的见识。我们使用来自底特律邻里健康研究（n = 158）的数据，研究了三种邻近条件（贫困，质量和社会凝聚力）与三个不同表观遗传钟（Horvath，Hannum和Levine）的关联。使用线性回归模型，我们评估了总样本中的关联，并按性别和社会凝聚力进行了分层。发现男女之间的性别差异。在完全调整后，邻里贫困与女性的PhenoAge加速有关，而与男性无关（女性：β= 1.4； 95％CI：-0.4，3.3；男性：β= -0.3； 95％CI：-2.2，1.5）楷模。在对社会凝聚力进行分层的模型中，居住在社会凝聚力较低的社区的居民的贫困和质量与DNAm老化加速之间的关联性仍然较高，而对于社会凝聚力较高的社区的居民则无效。我们的研究表明，生活在不利的邻里条件下可以加快表观遗传的衰老，而积极的邻里特征则可以缓冲影响。居住在社会凝聚力较低的社区中的居民，贫困和质量与DNAm加速老化之间的关联性仍然较高，而居住在社会凝聚力较高的社区中的居民则为零。我们的研究表明，生活在不利的邻里条件下可以加快表观遗传的衰老，而积极的邻里特征则可以缓冲影响。居住在社会凝聚力较低的社区中的居民，贫困和质量与DNAm加速老化之间的关联性仍然较高，而居住在社会凝聚力较高的社区中的居民则为零。我们的研究表明，生活在不利的邻里条件下可以加快表观遗传的衰老，而积极的邻里特征则可以缓冲影响。