Long-Term Obesity Accelerates Biological Aging in Young Adults, Study Finds
核心洞察
A prospective cohort study of 205 adults aged 28-31 years found that long-term obesity (搜索) is associated with elevated aging-related biomarkers, suggesting accelerated biological aging in young adults.
Participants with childhood-onset obesity (搜索) showed 26.6 years of obesity duration compared to 12.9 years for adolescent-onset obesity, with both groups displaying worse cardiometabolic markers than healthy-weight controls.
The research identified elevated levels of aging biomarkers including hs-CRP (搜索), IL-6, FGF-21 (搜索), IGF-1 (搜索), IGF-2, apelin, and irisin (搜索) in obese participants, indicating strong molecular connections between obesity (搜索) and aging processes.
A groundbreaking study published in JAMA Network Open reveals that long-term obesity (搜索) triggers aging-related molecular signals in young adults, providing new evidence that excess weight may accelerate biological aging processes decades before traditional age-related diseases typically emerge.
The prospective cohort study, conducted between April 2022 and June 2023, examined 205 adults aged 28 to 31 years (mean age: 28.6 years) from a Chilean population whose health data had been tracked since the 1990s. Researchers divided participants into three groups: 89 individuals with lifelong healthy BMI, 43 with persistent obesity (搜索) since adolescence, and 73 with persistent obesity since childhood.
Obesity Duration Linked to Molecular Aging
Using cubic polynomials to create smoothed BMI trajectories across participants' life courses, researchers found striking differences in obesity (搜索) duration. The childhood-onset obesity group averaged 26.6 years of obesity duration, while the adolescent-onset group averaged 12.9 years. Obesity began at a mean age of 1.9 years in the childhood group compared to 15.8 years in the adolescent group.
"Long-term obesity (搜索) was associated with the emergence of molecular signals linked to primary, antagonistic, and integrative aging hallmarks in young adults," the study authors reported. "Obesity was associated with serious cardiometabolic abnormalities, potentially leading to early-onset cardiometabolic diseases."
Elevated Aging Biomarkers Detected
The research identified significantly elevated levels of multiple aging-related biomarkers in participants with long-term obesity (搜索), including high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP (搜索)), interleukin-6 (IL-6), fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF-21 (搜索)), insulin-like growth factors 1 and 2 (IGF-1 (搜索), IGF-2), apelin, and irisin (搜索). The study authors noted these connections demonstrated large effect sizes, indicating a strong relationship between long-term obesity and aging hallmark expression.
Cardiometabolic Impact
Individuals who maintained healthy BMI throughout their lives showed superior cardiometabolic markers, including lower waist circumference, systolic blood pressure, insulin levels, and metabolic syndrome (搜索) severity compared to those with adolescent or childhood obesity (搜索). While fasting glucose remained normal across all groups, participants with obesity displayed elevated insulin levels and insulin resistance (搜索).
Both obesity (搜索) groups showed high risk for metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (搜索), regardless of obesity onset age. The findings suggest that long-term obesity creates a greater negative impact on cardiometabolic health, potentially leading to early-onset cardiometabolic diseases.
Global Health Implications
The research comes as obesity (搜索) rates continue rising globally. According to WHO data cited in the study, obesity in children and adolescents aged 5 to 19 increased from 2% to 8% between 1990 and 2022, while adult obesity more than doubled from 7% to 16%. An estimated 1 billion individuals are expected to have obesity by 2030.
The study authors noted that obesity (搜索) and aging share biological traits including systemic inflammation, telomere attrition, gut microbiome imbalance, mitochondrial dysfunction, impaired nutrient sensing, poor intercellular communication, altered proteostasis, cellular senescence, and age-related DNA hypomethylation.
Clinical Significance
The findings provide molecular evidence that obesity (搜索) may accelerate aging processes through mechanisms consistent with epigenetic alterations, telomere attrition, chronic inflammation, impaired nutrient sensing, mitochondrial stress, and compromised intercellular communication. This research suggests that young adults experiencing obesity may present chronic health issues due to accelerated biological aging associated with weight gain.
The study represents important progress in understanding the molecular pathways connecting obesity (搜索) and aging, addressing a critical knowledge gap as both conditions share many biological characteristics and contribute to reduced health span and life expectancy.