Accelerated biological aging six decades after prenatal famine exposure

Prenatal exposure to trauma, including genocide and maternal rape, and adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), are associated with lifespan reduction. We evaluated whether prenatal exposure to genocide or genocidal rape, and ACEs among individuals conceived during the 1994 genocide against Tutsi in Rwanda were associated with differences in age acceleration in three first-generation (Horvath, Hannum, PhenoAge) and four second-generation epigenetic aging clocks (GrimAge, DunedinPace, YingDamAge, YingAdaptAge), given the association between biological aging and mortality. No differences in age acceleration were observed with first-generation age clocks. However, age acceleration was associated with prenatal exposure to extreme stress for all second-generation clocks, with the greatest acceleration observed in the genocidal rape conception group. For YingDamAge clock, acceleration effects were strengthened after inclusion of ACEs. We suggest that prenatal trauma exposure is associated with epigenetic age acceleration. Second-generation clocks may more accurately capture these relationships.

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Lifespan costs of reproduction increase during the Great Finnish Famine

Young,

Postma,

Lummaa

et al. 2024

Preprint

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Evolutionary theory of aging predicts that women with increased reproductive effort live shorter lives, but evidence is inconsistent. These inconsistencies could be because environmental conditions influence how much reproductive behavior shapes a mother's lifespan, i.e. their lifespan cost of reproduction. Using a structural equation measurement model, we compare how reproductive effort affects lifespan of 4,684 women exposed across different life-stages, or not at all, to the Great Finnish Famine. We find that lifespan costs of reproduction became higher in mothers exposed to the famine during reproduction, and for these mothers amounted to a decreased life expectancy of ~0.5 years per child. Conversely, reproductive behavior did not shape the lifespans of mothers not exposed to the famine, or exposed post-reproduction or during development. These results suggest environment-dependent reproductive costs, which provides a biological explanation for previous inconsistent findings, and demonstrate how reproductive behavior can be an important determinant of human lifespan.

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Accelerated biological aging six decades after prenatal famine exposure

Cited by 3 publications

References 59 publications

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Apolipoprotein E4 and Alzheimer's disease causality under adverse environments and potential intervention by senolytic nutrients

Prenatal exposure to genocide accelerates epigenetic aging as measured in second-generation clocks among young adults

Lifespan costs of reproduction increase during the Great Finnish Famine

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