Un nuevo estudio de la Universidad McMaster sugiere que vivir en áreas urbanas desfavorecidas física y socialmente y experimentar síntomas depresivos puede contribuir de forma independiente al envejecimiento biológico acelerado, según lo determinado por dos estimadores basados en la metilación del ADN. La investigación no encontró que la privación del vecindario duplique el efecto de los síntomas depresivos sobre el envejecimiento biológico, lo que sugiere que estos dos factores influyen en el envejecimiento a través de diferentes mecanismos.
Según un estudio reciente dirigido por investigadores de la Universidad McMaster, vivir en barrios urbanos económica y socialmente desfavorecidos y sentirse deprimido puede acelerar el proceso de envejecimiento.
El estudio, publicado el 5 de junio en la Revistas de Gerontología, Serie A: Ciencias Biológicas y Ciencias Médicas, mostró que tanto vivir en áreas urbanas caracterizadas por grandes disparidades en recursos sociales y oportunidades, como la aparición de síntomas depresivos, se asocian de forma independiente con el envejecimiento biológico prematuro. Esta asociación persiste incluso después de considerar la salud personal y los factores de riesgo conductuales, como las enfermedades crónicas y los hábitos nocivos para la salud.
Parminder Raina, profesora del Departamento de Métodos de Investigación en Salud, Evidencia e Impacto de la Universidad McMaster, dirigió el equipo de investigación que incluía investigadores de los Países Bajos, Noruega y Suiza.
Parminder Raina, profesora del Departamento de Métodos de Investigación en Salud, Evidencia e Impacto de la Universidad McMaster, investigadora principal del Estudio Longitudinal Canadiense del Envejecimiento y autora principal del estudio. Crédito: Universidad McMaster
Nuestro estudio utilizó dos[{» attribute=»»>DNA methylation-based estimators, known as epigenetic clocks, to examine aging at the cellular level and estimate the difference between chronological age and biological age,” said Divya Joshi, the study’s first author and a research associate in the Department of Health Research Methods, Evidence, and Impact at McMaster.
“Our findings showed that neighborhood deprivation and depressive symptoms were positively associated with acceleration of the epigenetic age estimated using the DNAm GrimAge clock. This adds to the growing body of evidence that living in urban areas with higher levels of neighborhood deprivation and having depression symptoms are both associated with premature biological aging.”
Depressive symptoms in the study were measured using a 10-item standardized depression scale. The researchers found an acceleration in the risk of death by one month for every point increase in the depressive symptom score. They theorized that emotional distress caused by depression may result in more biological wear and tear and dysregulation of physiological systems, which in turn could lead to premature aging.
The researchers assessed neighborhood material and social deprivation using two indices that were developed by the Canadian Urban Environmental Health Research Consortium (CANUE) based on 2011 census.
Social deprivation reflects the presence of fewer social resources in the family and community, and material deprivation is an indicator of people’s inability to access goods and conveniences of modern life, such as adequate housing, nutritious food, a car, high-speed internet, or a neighborhood with recreational facilities.
The researchers found an increase in the risk of death by almost one year for those exposed to greater neighborhood deprivation compared to lower neighborhood deprivation.
The study did not find that neighborhood deprivation amplified the effect of depressive symptoms on epigenetic age acceleration.
“Our results showed that the effect of neighborhood deprivation on epigenetic age acceleration was similar regardless of depression symptoms, suggesting that depression influences epigenetic age acceleration through mechanisms unrelated to neighborhood deprivation,” Joshi said.
The research examined epigenetic data from 1,445 participants enrolled in the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging (CLSA), a research platform following more than 50,000 participants who were between the ages of 45 to 85 when recruited.
“Longitudinal studies, like the CLSA, are important to confirm associations like those found in this study,” said Raina, the study’s senior author and lead principal investigator of the CLSA.
“By following the same group of participants for 20 years, we will be able to determine whether epigenetic changes are stable or reversible over time. We will also gain insight into the mechanisms that are leading to accelerated epigenetic aging.”
Reference: “Association of Neighborhood Deprivation and Depressive Symptoms With Epigenetic Age Acceleration: Evidence From the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging” by Divya Joshi, Ph.D., Frank J van Lenthe, Ph.D., Martijn Huisman, Ph.D., Erik R Sund, Ph.D., Steinar Krokstad, Ph.D., Mauricio Avendano, Ph.D. and Parminder Raina, Ph.D., 5 June 2023, The Journals of Gerontology Series A.
DOI: 10.1093/gerona/glad118
Support for the CLSA is provided by the Government of Canada through the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and the Canada Foundation for Innovation. Additional support for this study was provided by the European Union Horizon 2020 Programme.
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