DNA Methylation age and mortality in the Lothian Birth Cohorts of 1921 and 1936

The study examined the association between DNA methylation age and mortality. Methylation age was estimated in 4 cohorts (including the Lothian Birth Cohorts of 1921 and 1936) and related to subsequent time-to-death. Across all four cohorts there was a strong correlation between predicted methylation age and chronological age. For individuals with a 5 year age acceleration (DNA methylation age - chronological age = 5), there was a meta analysed hazard ratio of mortality of 1.21 [1.14, 1.29]. Phenotype data associated with the study are available through dbGaP, the methylation raw data are available through the European Genome-phenome Archive (EGA; accession number EGAS00001000910).

• Study Weblinks:
  • Lothian Birth Cohorts
• Study Design:
  • Prospective Longitudinal Cohort
• Study Type:
  • Longitudinal Cohort
• Total number of consented subjects: 1366
• Subject Sample Telemetry Report (SSTR)

• BioProject
• MeSH

Participants were included if they had both DNA methylation data and phenotypic data available.

The Lothian Birth Cohorts of 1921 and 1936 are longitudinal studies of ageing. Both stem from the Scottish Mental Surveys of 1932 and 1947, respectively. In the mental surveys, nearly all 11 year old children in Scotland completed a test of general cognitive ability. The Lothian Birth Cohorts followed up survivors from the surveys that were living in the Lothian region of Scotland. The first wave of late-life data were collected at age 70 (LBC1936) with further follow-up at ages 73 and 76 years. In LBC1921 the first wave of late-life data were collected at age 79. There have been 3 additional follow-up waves at ages 83, 87, and 90 years.

• Primary Phenotype: Mortality
• DNA Methylation

• Principal Investigator
  • Ian Deary, PhD. University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK.
• Co-Investigator
  • John Starr, MD. University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK.