2024-03-23 07:28:51
Epigenetic changes similar to aging occur, but recover following childbirth.
Entered 2024.03.23 16:28 Entered 2024.03.23 16:28 Views 2
Having a baby changes the distribution of certain chemical marks in the pregnant person’s DNA. It is a change similar to aging. [사진=게티이미지뱅크]A new study has found that pregnancy accelerates aging, but it goes back to its original state following childbirth. This is the content reported by the scientific journal “Nature” based on a paper by American and German researchers published in “Cell Metabolism” on the 22nd (local time).
Pregnancy and aging are not all regarding pain and suffering. Having a baby changes the distribution of certain chemical marks in the pregnant person’s DNA. It is a change similar to aging. But new research has found that a few months following a person gives birth, chemical patterns revert to their previous state. Lead author Professor Kieran O’Donnell, a perinatal health expert at Yale University, said it was not surprising that pregnancy accelerates women’s aging, but that childbirth He said that bringing regarding that twist was “unexpected.”
fluid biological age
The chemical tag that the researchers analyzed is called a methyl group. Methyl groups are added to DNA through a process called methylation. Methyl groups are called ‘epigenome’ in that they change gene activity without changing the genetic code.
DNA-methylation patterns can be used to estimate a person’s ‘biological age’. This is because it reflects the physiological stress that the human body accumulates over time. Some studies have shown that biological age is a better predictor of health problems such as cardiovascular disease and dementia than a person’s chronological age.
However, unlike ‘chronological age’, which flows in one direction, ‘biological age’ is quite fluid, explained Professor Vadim Gladyshev (biomedical science) at Harvard University School of Medicine in the United States. Professor Gladyshev’s research team published a paper in Cell Metabolism last year showing that biological age decreases following pregnancy through animal experiments on mice and that a similar effect can occur in humans. A number of other stressful conditions also resulted in a reversal of biological age when interrupted.
Recovery following childbirth is affected by obesity
The new study shows that Gladyshev’s findings also apply to humans, and that not everyone recovers from pregnancy to the same degree. Professor O’Donnell’s team found that women who were most obese before pregnancy lost less biological age in the three months following giving birth than women who were of normal weight. On the other hand, people who only breastfed their biological age decreased more than those who drank formula or a mixture of formula and breast milk.
The biological age of some participants appeared to be several years younger postpartum than at the beginning of pregnancy. This is what Professor Yoo Shin-seo (aging biology) of Columbia University, who reviewed the paper, paid most attention to. Professor O’Donnell said he “can’t say for sure that this is a rejuvenation effect” because he didn’t measure the participants’ biological ages before pregnancy, but since the data is suggestive, he plans to conduct a follow-up study with the participants in the future.
Biological age increase, no need to worry
There are also scientists who disagree with the interpretation of Professor Gladyshev and Professor O’Donnell’s research results. Methylation certainly changes during pregnancy, but “it would be wrong to assume that pregnancy is a state of accelerated aging,” says Dena Duvall, a professor at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). He believes that methylation may not be a hallmark of aging, but may be the basis for some of the sweeping changes the body must undergo to support a growing fetus, such as changes in gene expression.
Professor Seo is not sure. “Methylation is by far one of the most powerful indicators of biological age,” he said.
Whether a reversible state can be called ‘age’ is “a really important question,” Professor O’Donnell said. “As we focus on pregnancy as a new area for aging research, new terminology may need to be developed,” he said.
In conclusion, people do not need to worry regarding the increase in biological age associated with pregnancy, the scientists noted. “We are talking regarding regarding two to three years of change,” Professor Gladyshev said. In addition, Professor Duvall pointed out that “although the benefits of breastfeeding are many, the absence of breastfeeding is not a dangerous situation.”
The paper can be found at the following link:
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