Epigenetic clocks in relapse after a first episode of schizophrenia
Àlex-González Segura, L. Prohens, Gisela Mezquida, Sílvia Amoretti, Miquel Bioque, María Ribeiro, Xaquin Gurriarán-Bas, Lide Rementería, Daniel Bergé, Roberto Rodríguez–Jiménez, Alexandra Roldán, Edith Pomarol‐Clotet, Ángela Ibáñez, Judith Usall, María Paz García‐Portilla, Manuel J. Cuesta, Mara Parellada, Ana González‐Pinto, Esther Berrocoso, Miquel Bernardo, Sergi Mas, 2EPS group, Jairo M. González-Díaz, Néstor Arbelo, Javier González‐Peñas, Laura Pina‐Camacho, Alba Diestre, Judit Selma, Iñaki Zorrilla, Purificación López‐Mahía, Amira Trabsa, Clara Monserrat, Luis Sánchez-Pastor, Aggie Nuñez-Doyle, Mar Fatjó‐Vilas, Salvador Sarró, Anna Butjosa, Marta Pardo, Jose M. López-Ilundain, Ana M. Sánchez Torres, Jerónimo Sáiz-Ruiz, Enriqueta Ochoa Mangado, Olga RIevero, Concepción De‐la‐Cámara, Rafael Segarra Echevarría, Leticia González-Blanco
Abstract
The main objective of the present study was to investigate the association between several epigenetic clocks, covering different aspects of aging, with schizophrenia relapse evaluated over a 3-year follow-up period in a cohort of ninety-one first-episode schizophrenia patients. Genome-wide DNA methylation was profiled and four epigenetic clocks, including epigenetic clocks of chronological age, mortality and telomere length were calculated. Patients that relapsed during the follow-up showed epigenetic acceleration of the telomere length clock (p = 0.030). Shorter telomere length was associated with cognitive performance (working memory, r = 0.31 p = 0.015; verbal fluency, r = 0.28 p = 0.028), but no direct effect of cognitive function or symptom severity on relapse was detected. The results of the present study suggest that epigenetic age acceleration could be involved in the clinical course of schizophrenia and could be a useful marker of relapse when measured in remission stages.