Evaluation of pediatric epigenetic clocks across multiple tissues
Fang Fang, Linran Zhou, Wei Perng, Carmen J. Marsit, Anna K. Knight, Andrés Cárdenas, Max T. Aung, Marie‐France Hivert, Izzuddin M. Aris, Jaclyn M. Goodrich, Alicia K. Smith, Abigail Gaylord, Rebecca C. Fry, Emily Oken, George O'connor, Douglas M. Ruden, Leonardo Trasande, Julie B. Herbstman, Carlos A. Camargo, Nicole R. Bush, Anne L. Dunlop, Dana Dabelea, Margaret R. Karagas, Carrie V. Breton, Carole Ober, Todd M. Everson, Grier P. Page, Christine Ladd‐Acosta, on behalf of program collaborators for Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes, P. Brian Smith, L. Kristin Newby, Lisa P. Jacobson, Diane Catellier, Richard Gershon, David Cella, Federico R. Laham, Jonathan M. Mansbach, Shaowei Wu, Jonathan M. Spergel, Juan C. Celedón, Henry T. Puls, Stephen J. Teach, S. C. Porter, Ilana Waynik, Sreedhevi Iyer, Margaret Samuels‐Kalow, A. D.Thompson, M. D. Stevenson, Cindy S. Bauer, Nancy R. Inhofe, Markus D. Boos, Charles G. Macias, James Gern, Daniel J. Jackson, Leonard B. Bacharier, Meyer Kattan, R.J.K. Wood, Katherine Rivera‐Spoljaric, Leonard B. Bacharier, Theresa M. Bastain, Shohreh F. Farzan, Rima Habre, Catherine J. Karr, Fran Tylavsky, A. Stuart Mason, Qi Zhao, Sheela Sathyanarayana, Nicole R. Bush, Kaja Z. LeWinn, B. Lester, B. Carter, S. Pastyrnak, Charles R. Neal, L.T. Smith, Jennifer Helderman, Cindy T. McEvoy, Robert S. Tepper, Kristen Lyall, Heather E. Volk, Rebecca J. Schmidt, Lisa Croen, Marianne O’Shea, Rama Vaidya, Rima Obeid, Caitlin K. Rollins, K. Bear, S. Pastyrnak, Marie Lenski, Rachana Singh, Michael E. Msall, Jean A. Frazier, Semsa Gogcu, Alison Montgomery, Karl Kuban, Laurie M. Douglass, Hernán Jara, Robert M. Joseph, Jean M. Kerver, Frederica P. Perera
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Epigenetic clocks are promising tools for assessing biological age. We assessed the accuracy of pediatric epigenetic clocks in gestational and chronological age determination. RESULTS: Our study used data from seven tissue types on three DNA methylation profiling microarrays and found that the Knight and Bohlin clocks performed similarly for blood cells, while the Lee clock was superior for placental samples. The pediatric-buccal-epigenetic clock performed the best for pediatric buccal samples, while the Horvath clock is recommended for children's blood cell samples. The NeoAge clock stands out for its unique ability to predict post-menstrual age with high correlation with the observed age in infant buccal cell samples. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings provide valuable guidance for future research and development of epigenetic clocks in pediatric samples, enabling more accurate assessments of biological age.