Background Individuals of the same chronological age may exhibit diverse susceptibilities to death. However, few studies have investigated the associations between blood pressure and the accelerated aging. Methods and Results A cross-sectional study was conducted in 288 adults aged ≥50 years. We assessed the DNA methylation-based measures of biological age using CpG sites on the Illumina HumanMethylationEPIC BeadChip. Epigenetic age acceleration metrics were derived by regressing residuals (ΔAge) and ratios (aging rate) of DNA methylation age on chronological age. Dose-response relationships between blood pressure and epigenetic age acceleration were quantified using multiple linear regression and restricted cubic regression models. We found that each 10-mm Hg increase in systolic blood pressure was associated with 0.608 (95% CI, 0.231-0.984) years increase in ΔAge and 0.007 (95% CI, 0.002-0.012) increase in aging rate; meanwhile, for pulse pressure, the increase was 1.12 (95% CI, 0.625-1.61) years for ΔAge and 0.013 (95% CI, 0.007-0.020) for aging rate. Subgroup analysis showed that the significant associations of systolic blood pressure and pulse pressure with epigenetic age acceleration appeared to be limited to women, although interactions between blood pressure and sex were not significant (P values for interaction >0.05). The combination of women and hypertension was associated with a much higher increase in ΔAge (β [95% CI], 4.05 [1.07-7.02]) and aging rate (β [95% CI], 0.047 [0.008-0.087]), compared with male participants without hypertension. Conclusions Our findings suggested that high systolic blood pressure and pulse pressure were associated with the epigenetic age acceleration, providing important clues for relationships between blood pressure and epigenetic aging.
Keywords: DNA methylation age; blood pressure; epigenetic age acceleration.