Center on Biodemography and Population Health (CBPH)

Although disease morbidity and mortality risk are elevated among those with sleep disturbances, the specific molecular pathways altered by sleep loss, which impact human disease, are poorly defined, and may be particularly magnified in late life. Potential pathways include inflammatory, oxidative stress, metabolic, and (neuro)-endocrinological pathways, each of which modifies biological aging. No research to date has tested whether treatment of insomnia in older adults modifies metabolic profiles. As insomnia is a modifiable behavioral target with established treatment efficacy, whether this treatment also improves metabolic patterns relevant to health would be a valuable addition to our understanding of how poor sleep drives risk. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I) is an effective intervention to treat insomnia. Our prior trial demonstrated the effectiveness of Tai Chi Chih as an alternative intervention successful at improving sleep among older adults with insomnia. Moreover, we observed improvements in inflammation among CBT-I participants pointing to biological shifts because of treatment. In the present proposal we extend this work by investigating additional relevant metabolites for health using novel metabolomic approaches. We hypothesize that treatment of insomnia using either CBT-I or TCC will relate to improvements in concentrations of important metabolites relevant to cardiometabolic health and biological aging, namely improved lipid, amino acid, and oxidative stress profiles. We will use existing stored specimens to complete this work, and will use the results to inform future grant applications to support junior investigator, Dr. Kusters.

How biological age may prospectively predict differential classification into trajectories of chronic health conditions (CHCs) associated with greater morbidity and mortality in older adults, and how this association may differ based on experiences of perceived discrimination are still unclear. The objective of the proposed research is to fill this gap using 2014-2020 Health and Retirement Study (HRS) data and biological clock data from the HRS Venous Blood Study. We will construct CHCs trajectories using latent class mixture models and regress these on PhenoAge, an epigenetic clock that measures biological age. We will further examine the moderation effects of perceived discrimination on this association in Black, White and Hispanic participants. Exploring differences in vulnerability to health declines by biological age can enhance our understanding of drivers of accelerated health deterioration that have previously been insufficiently identified or quantified. It will also provide insights into subgroups of adults who, due to accelerated biological aging and exposure to negative social determinants of health, may benefit from access to social and medical resources, particularly in cases where such resources (ex. Medicare) are reserved for those of a certain chronological age. Through this seed funding, we can build a foundation for additional research on biological and social contributors to disparities in adverse health trajectories. Our findings would inform the design of a future NIH R01 application focused on understanding factors contributing to differential health declines among diverse adults of similar chronological age and health profiles.

It is thought that adverse working conditions contribute to premature aging, but it is unclear whether this occurs at the molecular level. The objective of this pilot project is to examine how occupational categorizations and specific occupational exposures are associated with accelerated epigenetic aging, and how they contribute to the earlier aging of disadvantaged social groups. This project will utilize data from the Health and Retirement Study’s 2016 Venous Blood Study, complemented with data from the Occupational Information Network (O*NET), to assess how a set of several physical, psychosocial, and environmental occupational characteristics are associated with epigenetic aging as estimated through five epigenetic clocks. The results from this study will contribute to our understanding of the biological processes through which working conditions influence health and the aging process.