The study titled ‘Substance use and epigenetic age acceleration: Associations with alcohol, tobacco, illicit drugs, and SUD severity’ investigates the relationship between various forms of substance use and biological aging. Conducted by researchers from the Irsay Institute for Sociomedical Sciences Research and the University of Michigan, this research utilizes data from the Person-to-Person Health Interview Study in Indiana, involving 2,276 adult participants.
Background
Prior research has not thoroughly examined the connections between clinically significant alcohol use, nicotine consumption, opioid use, and overall substance use disorder (SUD) severity with accelerated biological aging. This study aims to fill that gap by analyzing validated assessments of substance use and DNA methylation profiling to measure biological aging.
Methods
Participants completed assessments regarding SUD severity, alcohol use, opioid use, and nicotine use. They also provided saliva samples for DNA methylation analysis, which were used to calculate biological aging metrics, specifically AgeAccelGrim2 and DunedinPACE. Regression models were employed to estimate the associations between substance use indicators and biological aging, while adjusting for various covariates.
Results
The findings revealed significant associations between certain types of substance use and accelerated biological aging. Specifically:
- Binary measures of illicit opioid use showed a positive association with both AgeAccelGrim2 and DunedinPACE.
- Non-prescription opioid use was also positively correlated with biological aging metrics.
- Clinically significant alcohol use was positively associated with AgeAccelGrim2 but not with DunedinPACE.
- Cigarette smoking was positively associated with both biological aging measures across all levels of use.
- Interestingly, hookah use was negatively associated with AgeAccelGrim2, while vaping did not show any significant association when analyzed alongside cigarette smoking.
These results underscore the strong link between substance use, particularly cigarette smoking and opioid use, and accelerated biological aging.
What this study does not show
This study does not establish causation between substance use and biological aging, nor does it explore the underlying mechanisms linking these factors.
Evidence scorecard
- Analytic validity: Established
- Clinical validity: Partial
- Clinical utility: Not established
The evidence is based on primary research conducted on human participants.