Biological age is increased by stress and restored upon recovery.
Level 4 - case-series / case-control
Observational human biomarker cohorts combined with animal experimental models
PubMed 37086720 · doi:10.1016/j.cmet.2023.03.015
What was done
Biological age was measured at epigenetic, transcriptomic, and metabolomic levels in young mice subjected to heterochronic parabiosis and subsequent surgical separation. Biological age dynamics were also tracked in humans and/or mice across three physiological stressors: major surgery, pregnancy, and severe COVID-19.
What was found
The abstract reports no numerical values, effect sizes, or sample sizes. It qualitatively describes that biological age in young mice increased during heterochronic parabiosis and reversed after surgical detachment. In humans and/or mice, biological age increased during major surgery, pregnancy, and severe COVID-19, and returned toward baseline following recovery.
Why it matters
This work demonstrates that biological age is dynamic and capable of rapid increases and subsequent reversals in response to acute physiological stress and recovery.
Limits
The abstract provides no sample sizes, numerical data, statistical confidence intervals, or details on human cohort selection criteria and control comparators. Acute inflammatory and metabolic responses to stress may act as unmeasured confounders on molecular aging biomarkers.
Cited by
- supports Heterochronic parabiosis alters the epigenetic clock in mice.