PedBE age and age acceleration in umbilical vein endothelial cells: An examination of infant birth outcomes

Abstract

The current study examines the application of the Pediatric-Buccal-Epigenetic (PedBE) clock, designed for buccal epithelial cells, to endothelia. We evaluate the association of PedBE epigenetic age and age acceleration estimated from human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) with length of gestation and birthweight in a racially and ethnically diverse sample (analytic sample n = 333). PedBE age was positively associated with gestational age at birth (r = 0.22, p < .001) and infant birth weight (r = 0.20, p < .001). Multivariate models revealed infants with higher birth weight (adjusted for gestational age) had greater PedBE epigenetic age acceleration (b = 0.0002, se = 0.0007, p = 0.002), though this effect was small; findings were unchanged excluding preterm infants born before 37 weeks' gestation. In conclusion, the PedBE clock may have application to endothelial cells and provide utility as an anchoring sampling point at birth to examine epigenetic aging in infancy.