Key points from article :
Biological age was found to be dynamic and responsive to severe stress, such as surgery, pregnancy, and severe COVID-19.
Researchers used "biological clocks" to measure health of cells and tissues, looking at DNA methylation levels.
Patients undergoing major surgery showed increased biological age, which returned to baseline within a week.
Both human and mouse subjects showed increased biological age during pregnancy, which resolved postpartum.
COVID-19 hospitalized female patients showed a partially reversed increase in biological age upon ICU discharge; male patients saw no significant change.
“Our findings challenge the concept that biological age can only increase over a person’s lifetime and suggest that it may be possible to identify interventions that could slow or even partially reverse biological age,” said senior author Vadim Gladyshev
Research by Brigham’s Division of Genetics, lead by Jesse Poganik, published in Cell Metabolism.
