A prospective study of associations between accelerated biological aging and twenty musculoskeletal disorders

Wenming Wei; Xin Qi; Bolun Cheng; Na Zhang; Yijing Zhao; Xiaoyue Qin; Dan He; Xiaoge Chu; Sirong Shi; Qingqing Cai; Xuena Yang; Shiqiang Cheng; Peilin Meng; Jingni Hui; Chuyu Pan; Li Liu; Yan Wen; Huan Liu; Yumeng Jia; Feng Zhang

doi:10.1038/s43856-024-00706-5

A prospective study of associations between accelerated biological aging and twenty musculoskeletal disorders

Commun Med (Lond). 2024 Dec 18;4(1):266. doi: 10.1038/s43856-024-00706-5.

Authors

Wenming Wei^#¹, Xin Qi^#^{1

2}, Bolun Cheng¹, Na Zhang¹, Yijing Zhao¹, Xiaoyue Qin¹, Dan He¹, Xiaoge Chu¹, Sirong Shi¹, Qingqing Cai¹, Xuena Yang¹, Shiqiang Cheng¹, Peilin Meng¹, Jingni Hui¹, Chuyu Pan¹, Li Liu¹, Yan Wen¹, Huan Liu¹, Yumeng Jia¹, Feng Zhang³

Affiliations

¹ Key Laboratory of Trace Elements and Endemic Diseases of National Health and Family Planning Commission, Key Laboratory of Environment and Genes Related to Diseases of Ministry of Education of China, Key Laboratory for Disease Prevention and Control and Health Promotion of Shaanxi Province, School of Public Health, Health Science Center, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, China.
² Precision medicine center, the First Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, P. R. China.
³ Key Laboratory of Trace Elements and Endemic Diseases of National Health and Family Planning Commission, Key Laboratory of Environment and Genes Related to Diseases of Ministry of Education of China, Key Laboratory for Disease Prevention and Control and Health Promotion of Shaanxi Province, School of Public Health, Health Science Center, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, China. [email protected].

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

Background: Musculoskeletal disorders pose major public health challenges, and accelerated biological aging may increase their risk. This study investigates the association between biological aging and musculoskeletal disorders, with a focus on sex-related differences.

Methods: We analyzed data from 172,332 UK Biobank participants (mean age of 56.03 ± 8.10 years). Biological age was calculated using the KDM-BA and PhenoAge algorithms based on blood biomarkers. Musculoskeletal disorders were diagnosed using the ICD-10 criteria, with sample sizes ranging from 1,182 to 23,668. Logistic regression assessed cross-sectional associations between age acceleration (AA) metrics and musculoskeletal disorders. Accelerated Failure Time (AFT) model was used for survival analysis to evaluate the relationships between AAs and musculoskeletal disorders onset. Models were adjusted for demographic, lifestyle, and socio-economic covariates. The threshold of P-values were set by the Holm-Bonferroni correction.

Results: Cross-sectional analyses reveal significant associations between AAs and fourteen musculoskeletal disorders. Survival analyses indicate that AAs significantly accelerate the onset of nine musculoskeletal disorders, including inflammatory polyarthropathies (RT_KDM-BA = 0.993; RT_PhenoAge = 0.983), systemic connective tissue disorders (RT_KDM-BA = 0.987; RT_PhenoAge = 0.980), spondylopathies (RT_PhenoAge= 0.994), disorders of bone density and structure (RT_PhenoAge= 0.991), gout (RT_PhenoAge= 0.968), arthritis (RT_PhenoAge= 0.991), pain in joint (RT_PhenoAge= 0.989), low back pain (RT_PhenoAge= 0.986), and osteoporosis (RT_PhenoAge= 0.994). Sensitivity analyses are consistent with the primary findings. Sex-specific variations are observed, with AAs accelerating spondylopathies, arthritis, and low back pain in females, while osteoporosis is accelerated in males.

Conclusion: Accelerated biological aging is significantly associated with the incidence of several musculoskeletal disorders. These insights highlight the importance of biological age assessments in gauging musculoskeletal disorder risk, aiding early detection, prevention, and management.

Plain language summary

As we age, our bodies experience changes that can lead to health problems, including musculoskeletal disorders such as arthritis and back pain. This study explores how biological aging, a measure of how old our bodies seem based on biomarkers, affects the risk of developing these disorders. Using data from over 170,000 people, we found that faster biological aging is linked to an increased risk of several musculoskeletal disorders, and that these risks can vary between men and women. These findings could help identify people at risk earlier, leading to better prevention and treatment strategies.