Accelerated biological aging and risk of depression and anxiety: evidence from 424,299 UK Biobank participants

Xu Gao (), Tong Geng, Meijie Jiang, Ninghao Huang, Yinan Zheng, Daniel W. Belsky () and Tao Huang
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Xu Gao: Peking University
Tong Geng: Peking University Sixth Hospital, Peking University Institute of Mental Health, NHC Key Laboratory of Mental Health (Peking University), National Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders (Peking University Sixth Hospital)
Meijie Jiang: Peking University
Ninghao Huang: Peking University
Yinan Zheng: Northwestern University
Daniel W. Belsky: Columbia University
Tao Huang: Peking University

Nature Communications, 2023, vol. 14, issue 1, 1-12

Abstract: Abstract Theory predicts that biological processes of aging may contribute to poor mental health in late life. To test this hypothesis, we evaluated prospective associations between biological age and incident depression and anxiety in 424,299 UK Biobank participants. We measured biological age from clinical traits using the KDM-BA and PhenoAge algorithms. At baseline, participants who were biologically older more often experienced depression/anxiety. During a median of 8.7 years of follow-up, participants with older biological age were at increased risk of incident depression/anxiety (5.9% increase per standard deviation [SD] of KDM-BA acceleration, 95% confidence intervals [CI]: 3.3%–8.5%; 11.3% increase per SD of PhenoAge acceleration, 95% CI: 9.%–13.0%). Biological-aging-associated risk of depression/anxiety was independent of and additive to genetic risk measured by genome-wide-association-study-based polygenic scores. Advanced biological aging may represent a potential risk factor for incident depression/anxiety in midlife and older adults and a potential target for risk assessment and intervention.

Date: 2023
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-38013-7

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