Study Assesses Biological Age Acceleration in People with Multiple Sclerosis

Analysis of interim results from a study assessing biological aging in individuals with multiple sclerosis (MS) showed an increase in epigenetic age acceleration (EAA) in a subset of people with secondary progressive MS. The results were presented at the ninth annual Americas Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis (ACTRIMS) Forum 2024.

Researchers found that p16INK4a, a tumor suppressor that activates in response to cellular senescence, increases logarithmically with chronological age. The ongoing study evaluates EAA and p16INK4a expression in people with MS and age- and sex-matched controls without MS (relapsing-remitting MS [n=30], secondary progressive MS [n=29], primary progressive MS [n=10], control [n=27]). Researchers also explored the impact of anti-CD20 therapy on EAA and p16INK4a levels. Multiple epigenetic clock algorithms to assess methylation patterns in peripheral blood T lymphocyte (PBTL) DNA were used to measure EAA.

Analysis of preliminary results demonstrated the following:

• EAA was highest in people with secondary progressive MS using the Horvath (mean=6.1, SD=8.8), Hannum (mean=8.3, SD=10.8), GrimAge (mean=2.3, SD=4.9), and PhenoAge (mean=8.9, SD=12.9) clocks.
• No expressive differences were observed in EAA for people with MS receiving anti-CD20 therapy versus other disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) or no treatment.
• p16INK4a expression showed moderate positive correlation with chronological age in controls (r=0.44) but not in MS (r=0.05)

Researchers from this study are affiliated with The Ohio State University and the University of California San Diego.