Dementia Status Modifies the Association Between Sleep Quality and Epigenetic Age Acceleration in Older Adults
Medicine, Health, and Disease- Grade:
- 10
- Teacher:
- Ju Gao
This study examined whether poor sleep quality is associated with accelerated biological aging in older adults and whether this relationship differs by Alzheimer’s disease (AD) status. Biological aging was measured using epigenetic clocks derived from blood DNA methylation data from the Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI). Epigenetic age acceleration (EAA) was calculated as the difference between predicted biological age and chronological age. Participants were categorized based on sleep quality and cognitive diagnosis (cognitively normal or AD dementia), and statistical models were used to assess associations and interaction effects. The results indicated that poorer sleep quality was significantly associated with higher epigenetic age acceleration. Furthermore, the relationship between poor sleep and accelerated biological aging was stronger among individuals diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease compared to cognitively normal participants. These findings were generally consistent across multiple epigenetic clock measures, supporting the reliability of the results. Overall, this study suggests that poor sleep may contribute to faster biological aging, particularly in individuals with Alzheimer’s disease. Because sleep is a modifiable factor, these findings highlight its potential importance in promoting healthy aging and possibly slowing cognitive decline in older adults.