Are sex differences in cognitive impairment reflected in epigenetic age acceleration metrics?

Sex differences are well-established in Alzheimer's disease (AD) frequency and pathogenesis, but are not mechanistically understood. Accelerated epigenetic age has been associated with both cognitive aging and AD pathophysiology, but has not been studied by sex in AD or related cognitive impairment. Using the ADNI cohort, we found that none of sex, cognitive impairment diagnosis, nor load of APOEε4 alleles (strongest genetic AD risk factor) were associated with epigenetic age acceleration (DNAmAge, Intrinsic DNAmAge, PhenoAge, or GrimAge), although females exhibit more accelerated epigenetic aging using the Skin & Blood clock in the transition from normal cognition to cognitive impairment than males.
(Copyright © 2021 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)