A man’s progress through life can often be considered a gradual transition from the ovum to the grave.
But if you wake up one morning, look in the mirror and are surprised that you’ve suddenly aged so much, you may not be imagining things. According to new research into the molecular changes associated with aging, humans experience two severe pulls forward, one at an average age of 44 and another at an average age of 60.
“We haven’t changed gradually over time; there have been some dramatic changes.” Geneticist Michael Snyder says: of Stanford University, is the study’s senior author.
“The mid-40s turn out to be a period of dramatic change, just like the early ’60s. That’s true no matter what type of molecule you look at.”
Aging is complex, and is associated with increased risks of all kinds of diseases. Snyder and his colleagues are investigating the biology of aging, what changes occur, and how to better mitigate and treat these diseases. To this end, they are tracking a group of 108 adults who have been donating biological samples every few months for several years.
They noticed that Certain conditionsAlzheimer’s and heart diseaseThe risk does not rise gradually over time, it increases sharply after a certain age. So they wanted to take a closer look at biomarkers of aging to see if they could identify relevant changes.
Using samples from their group, the researchers are monitoring a wide variety of biomolecules. The diverse molecules studied included RNA, proteins, lipids, and gut, skin, nasal, and oral microbial taxa, totaling 135,239 biological features.
Each participant submitted an average of 47 samples over 626 days, with the longest serving participant submitting 367 samples. This wealth of data resulted in more than 246 billion data points, which the researchers then processed to look for patterns in the changes.
Several previous studies have identified non-linear changes in molecular abundance that may be linked to aging. Rats And Human beings. Studies in fruit flies, mice and zebrafish have also indicated that A gradual aging process in those species.
Snyder and his colleagues observed a very clear change in the abundance of different types of molecules in the human body at two different levels. About 81 percent of all molecules in their study showed changes in one or two of these positions. Changes peaked in the mid-40s and again in the early 60s, with slightly different profiles.
The mid-40s showed changes in molecules associated with the metabolism of lipids, caffeine and alcohol, as well as cardiovascular disease and dysfunctions in the skin and muscles. In the early 60s, carbohydrate and caffeine metabolism were associated with cardiovascular disease, skin and muscle, immune regulation, and kidney function.
The first peak, the mid-40s, is when women typically begin menopause, or perimenopause, but the researchers ruled this out as a major factor: Men also underwent significant molecular changes at the same age.
“While menopause or perimenopause may contribute to the changes observed in women in their mid-40s, this suggests that there may be other important factors influencing these changes in both men and women.” Metabolist and first author Xiaotao Shen explainsFormerly Stanford, now Nanyang Technological University in Singapore.
“Identifying and studying these factors should be a priority for future research.”
The researchers note that their sample size was too small, and they were underpowered Biology The samples were from people between the ages of 25 and 70. Future research will help to explore this phenomenon further, and study it in more nuanced detail, across a wider range of subjects, to understand how the human body changes over time.
Published in the thesis Natural aging.
