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Simple Summary: We consider a subset (n = 306) of an Eastern European ageing population cohort which was followed up for 15 years. Using blood DNA methylation data, we calculated nine epigenetic age acceleration scores, which are defined as deviations of epigenetic age from chronological age. We then evaluated how those scores are associated with available phenotypic data. This was implemented by splitting the phenotypic data into groups with positive and negative epigenetic age acceleration, and evaluating the difference between those groups. We observed strong association between all the considered epigenetic age acceleration and sex, suggesting that any analysis of these scores should be adjusted for sex. Moreover, even after adjusting for sex, the associations between the scores and considered phenotypes remain sex-specific. The only two associations that persisted through the entire dataset and both male and female subsets are incident coronary heart disease and smoking status. The observed associations of the various epigenetic age acceleration scores with both individual and groups of phenotypes suggest that these scores are sensitive to various cardiometabolic parameters, which might indicate their prognostic potential for related disorders. We evaluated associations between nine epigenetic age acceleration (EAA) scores and 18 cardiometabolic phenotypes using an Eastern European ageing population cohort richly annotated for a diverse set of phenotypes (subsample, n = 306; aged 45–69 years). This was implemented by splitting the data into groups with positive and negative EAAs. We observed strong association between all EAA scores and sex, suggesting that any analysis of EAAs should be adjusted by sex. We found that some sex-adjusted EAA scores were significantly associated with several phenotypes such as blood levels of gamma-glutamyl transferase and low-density lipoprotein, smoking status, annual alcohol consumption, multiple carotid plaques, and incident coronary heart disease status (not necessarily the same phenotypes for different EAAs). We demonstrated that even after adjusting EAAs for sex, EAA–phenotype associations remain sex-specific, which should be taken into account in any downstream analysis involving EAAs. The obtained results suggest that in some EAA–phenotype associations, negative EAA scores (i.e., epigenetic age below chronological age) indicated more harmful phenotype values, which is counterintuitive. Among all considered epigenetic clocks, GrimAge was significantly associated with more phenotypes than any other EA scores in this Russian sample. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: An aberrant right subclavian artery (ARSA) is a rare vascular anomaly defined by the origin of the right subclavian artery from the aorta, distal to the left subclavian artery (LSA). An ARSA was found in an 83-year-old female during cadaveric dissection for anatomy teaching, which had an unusually narrow lumen compared to previously reported cases., Materials and Methods: The specific morphology of this ARSA variant was characterised by further dissection and measurements. A systematic review of cadaveric case reports with quantitative evaluation of ARSA dimensions was conducted for comparison with this case., Results: This ARSA variant exhibited an unusually narrow lumen (8.22 mm²) compared to the LSA (152.55²), with an ARSA: LSA ratio of 0.24. The systematic review included 17 studies with 23 cases of ARSAs. Of these cases, 20 contained details of ARSA diameter, 19 of which were wider than in this case. In all studies where both ARSA and LSA diameters were measured, ARSA was found to be significantly wider than LSA (mean ratio of ARSA to LSA: 1.49, range: 1.09-2.00). Several other variations were reported in these studies, such as concomitant aortic arch branch anomalies and differing origins of ARSA as defined by vertebral level and relation to the aortic arch., Conclusions: This case report presents an unusually narrow ARSA which has not been previously described in the literature. As there is limited evidence on how ARSA morphology affects clinical outcomes, further research is needed to better inform management of ARSAs.