# Association between cardiovascular health and epigenetic aging: a twin study

## TL;DR

This study finds that better cardiovascular health is linked to slower biological aging in twins, especially in older males.

## Contribution

The study demonstrates a novel association between cardiovascular health metrics and epigenetic aging using twin data.

## Key findings

- Higher LE8 scores correlate with slower epigenetic aging in both cross-twin and within-monozygotic-pair analyses.
- The association is stronger in males and individuals over 50 years old.
- Temporal relationships between cardiovascular health and epigenetic age were confirmed through cross-lagged analysis.

## Abstract

To explore the association between life’s essential 8 and epigenetic age based on twins population.

This study included 1030 twins (515 pairs) for cross-sectional analysis and conducted cross-lagged analysis among 294 twins (147 pairs) who participated in both the baseline and follow-up surveys from the Chinese National Twin Registry. LE8 scores were obtained from measurements based on American Heart Association definitions. DNA methylation data were used to calculate epigenetic age metrics, including GrimAA, DamAA and DunedinPACE. Linear mixed-effect models were applied for cross-twin analyses and within-monozygotic-pair analyses.

In the cross-sectional analysis, higher LE8 score was associated with slower epigenetic aging (DunedinPACE and DamAA) in both across-twin analyses and within-monozygotic-pair analyses. In stratified analyses, the association between LE8 score and epigenetic age appeared more significant in males and in individuals aged 50 years older. The cross-lagged analysis further revealed significant temporal associations between LE8, health factor, and DunedinPACE.

Higher LE8 scores were associated with a deceleration in biological aging.

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13148-025-02034-4.