Nature agingPub Date : 2024-12-19DOI: 10.1038/s43587-024-00741-w
John R Beard, Katja Hanewald, Yafei Si, Jotheeswaran Amuthavalli Thiyagarajan, Dario Moreno-Agostino
{"title":"Cohort trends in intrinsic capacity in England and China.","authors":"John R Beard, Katja Hanewald, Yafei Si, Jotheeswaran Amuthavalli Thiyagarajan, Dario Moreno-Agostino","doi":"10.1038/s43587-024-00741-w","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s43587-024-00741-w","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>To understand how the health of older adults today compares to that of previous generations, we estimated intrinsic capacity and subdomains of cognitive, locomotor, sensory, psychological and vitality capacities in participants of the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing and the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study. Applying multilevel growth curve models, we found that more recent cohorts entered older ages with higher levels of capacity, while subsequent age-related declines were somewhat compressed compared to earlier cohorts. Trends were most evident for the cognitive, locomotor and vitality capacities. Improvements were large, with the greatest gains being in the most recent cohorts. For example, a 68-year-old participant of the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing born in 1950 had higher capacity than a 62-year-old born 10 years earlier. Trends were similar for men and women and were generally consistent across English and Chinese cohorts. Possible causes include broad societal influences and improvements in medical care.</p>","PeriodicalId":94150,"journal":{"name":"Nature aging","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":17.0,"publicationDate":"2024-12-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142866850","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Nature agingPub Date : 2024-12-13DOI: 10.1038/s43587-024-00725-w
Holly N. Thomas
{"title":"Supporting the sexual healthcare needs of aging women","authors":"Holly N. Thomas","doi":"10.1038/s43587-024-00725-w","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s43587-024-00725-w","url":null,"abstract":"A satisfying sex life is a key component of health and well-being for many older women. However, there is insufficient awareness of and care for women’s sexual health. This Comment discusses steps healthcare providers can take to support women’s sexual health across the lifespan, which should be a top priority.","PeriodicalId":94150,"journal":{"name":"Nature aging","volume":"4 12","pages":"1660-1662"},"PeriodicalIF":17.0,"publicationDate":"2024-12-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142821506","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Nature agingPub Date : 2024-12-13DOI: 10.1038/s43587-024-00771-4
Yasmyn E. Winstanley, Jennifer S. Stables, Macarena B. Gonzalez, Takashi Umehara, Robert J. Norman, Rebecca L. Robker
{"title":"Emerging therapeutic strategies to mitigate female and male reproductive aging","authors":"Yasmyn E. Winstanley, Jennifer S. Stables, Macarena B. Gonzalez, Takashi Umehara, Robert J. Norman, Rebecca L. Robker","doi":"10.1038/s43587-024-00771-4","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s43587-024-00771-4","url":null,"abstract":"People today are choosing to have children later in life, often in their thirties and forties, when their fertility is in decline. We sought to identify and compile effective methods for improving either male or female fertility in this context of advanced reproductive age. We found few clinical studies with strong evidence for therapeutics that mitigate reproductive aging or extend fertility; however, this Perspective summarizes the range of emerging experimental strategies under development. Preclinical studies, in mouse models of aging, have identified pharmaceutical candidates that improve egg and sperm quality. Further, a diverse array of medically assisted reproduction methodologies, including those that stimulate rare ovarian follicles and rejuvenate egg quality using mitochondria, may have future utility for older patients. Finally, we highlight the many knowledge gaps and possible future directions in the field of therapeutics to extend the age of healthy human reproduction. People now choose to start families in their 30s to 40s, when fertility is low owing to reproductive aging. In this Perspective, the authors highlight the absence of clinically confirmed therapeutics to mitigate reproductive aging or extend fertility, and they summarize the range of emerging strategies and point to knowledge gaps and future directions in the field.","PeriodicalId":94150,"journal":{"name":"Nature aging","volume":"4 12","pages":"1682-1696"},"PeriodicalIF":17.0,"publicationDate":"2024-12-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142821520","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Nature agingPub Date : 2024-12-13DOI: 10.1038/s43587-024-00713-0
Zhongwei Huang, on behalf of NUS Bia-Echo Asia Centre for Reproductive Longevity and Equality (ACRLE)
{"title":"Healthy longevity requires bridging reproductive medicine, aging research and public engagement","authors":"Zhongwei Huang, on behalf of NUS Bia-Echo Asia Centre for Reproductive Longevity and Equality (ACRLE)","doi":"10.1038/s43587-024-00713-0","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s43587-024-00713-0","url":null,"abstract":"Reproductive health is fundamentally connected with overall health. The Bia-Echo Asia Centre for Reproductive Longevity and Equality discusses an innovative approach to healthy longevity that is tailored uniquely to individual patterns of aging, which will require reproductive medicine, biological aging research and public engagement to join forces.","PeriodicalId":94150,"journal":{"name":"Nature aging","volume":"4 12","pages":"1658-1659"},"PeriodicalIF":17.0,"publicationDate":"2024-12-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142821519","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Nature agingPub Date : 2024-12-13DOI: 10.1038/s43587-024-00786-x
{"title":"Reproductive aging research as a gateway to health and wellbeing","authors":"","doi":"10.1038/s43587-024-00786-x","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s43587-024-00786-x","url":null,"abstract":"Reproductive aging is increasingly recognized as an important determinant of fertility span and overall health and wellbeing in older age. In this Focus issue, Nature Aging presents a series of reviews and opinion pieces on recent advances in reproductive aging research.","PeriodicalId":94150,"journal":{"name":"Nature aging","volume":"4 12","pages":"1657-1657"},"PeriodicalIF":17.0,"publicationDate":"2024-12-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.nature.com/articles/s43587-024-00786-x.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142821513","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Nature agingPub Date : 2024-12-13DOI: 10.1038/s43587-024-00721-0
Anna Sophie Lebech Kjaer, Maria Linander Vestager, Rikke Beck Jensen, Anja Pinborg
{"title":"Healthy aging in individuals born after assisted reproductive technology is a research area for the future","authors":"Anna Sophie Lebech Kjaer, Maria Linander Vestager, Rikke Beck Jensen, Anja Pinborg","doi":"10.1038/s43587-024-00721-0","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s43587-024-00721-0","url":null,"abstract":"As fertility rates decline and childbearing age increases globally, assisted reproductive technology (ART) has a crucial role in enhancing birth rates and will contribute substantially to future generations. ART has fulfilled family formation wishes for many individuals facing infertility and aids in solving demographic challenges. Today, up to 9% of the European population is conceived after ART. Considerable advancements in ARTs have improved the effectiveness of treatment, but the ultimate quality control in ART is healthy offspring. Therefore, it is of utmost importance to monitor the health of individuals conceived through ART, and ensure that ART not only provides for the birth of healthy children but also for health into old age.","PeriodicalId":94150,"journal":{"name":"Nature aging","volume":"4 12","pages":"1663-1666"},"PeriodicalIF":17.0,"publicationDate":"2024-12-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142821511","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Nature agingPub Date : 2024-12-13DOI: 10.1038/s43587-024-00733-w
Stefania Benonisdottir, Vincent J. Straub, Augustine Kong, Melinda C. Mills
{"title":"Genetics of female and male reproductive traits and their relationship with health, longevity and consequences for offspring","authors":"Stefania Benonisdottir, Vincent J. Straub, Augustine Kong, Melinda C. Mills","doi":"10.1038/s43587-024-00733-w","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s43587-024-00733-w","url":null,"abstract":"Substantial shifts in reproductive behaviors have recently taken place in many high-income countries including earlier age at menarche, advanced age at childbearing, rising childlessness and a lower number of children. As reproduction shifts to later ages, genetic factors may become increasingly important. Although monogenic genetic effects are known, the genetics underlying human reproductive traits are complex, with both causal effects and statistical bias often confounded by socioeconomic factors. Here, we review genome-wide association studies (GWASs) of 44 reproductive traits of both female and male individuals from 2007 to early 2024, examining reproductive behavior, reproductive lifespan and aging, infertility and hormonal concentration. Using the GWAS Catalog as a basis, from 159 relevant studies, we isolate 37 genes that harbor association signals for four or more reproductive traits, more than half of which are linked to rare Mendelian disorders, including ten genes linked to reproductive-related disorders: FSHB, MCM8, DNAH2, WNT4, ESR1, IGSF1, THRB, BRWD1, CYP19A1 and PTPRF. We also review the relationship of reproductive genetics to related health and behavioral traits, aging and longevity and the effect of parental age on offspring outcomes as well as reflecting on limitations, open questions and challenges in this fast-moving field. Benonisdottir et al. review the genetics of reproductive traits and examine how these associate with links to health, behavior, aging and longevity as well as outcomes for offspring.","PeriodicalId":94150,"journal":{"name":"Nature aging","volume":"4 12","pages":"1745-1759"},"PeriodicalIF":17.0,"publicationDate":"2024-12-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142821477","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Nature agingPub Date : 2024-12-13DOI: 10.1038/s43587-024-00775-0
C P Ryan, D L Corcoran, N Banskota, C Eckstein Indik, A Floratos, R Friedman, M S Kobor, V B Kraus, W E Kraus, J L MacIsaac, M C Orenduff, C F Pieper, J P White, L Ferrucci, S Horvath, K M Huffman, D W Belsky
{"title":"The CALERIE Genomic Data Resource.","authors":"C P Ryan, D L Corcoran, N Banskota, C Eckstein Indik, A Floratos, R Friedman, M S Kobor, V B Kraus, W E Kraus, J L MacIsaac, M C Orenduff, C F Pieper, J P White, L Ferrucci, S Horvath, K M Huffman, D W Belsky","doi":"10.1038/s43587-024-00775-0","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s43587-024-00775-0","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Caloric restriction (CR) slows biological aging and prolongs healthy lifespan in model organisms. Findings from the CALERIE randomized, controlled trial of long-term CR in healthy, nonobese humans broadly supports a similar pattern of effects in humans. To expand our understanding of the molecular pathways and biological processes underpinning CR effects in humans, we generated a series of genomic datasets from stored biospecimens collected from n = 218 participants during the trial. These data constitute a genomic data resource for a randomized controlled trial of an intervention targeting the biology of aging. Datasets include whole-genome single-nucleotide polymorphism genotypes, and three-timepoint-longitudinal DNA methylation, mRNA and small RNA datasets generated from blood, skeletal muscle and adipose tissue samples (total sample n = 2,327). The CALERIE Genomic Data Resource described in this article is available from the Aging Research Biobank. This multi-tissue, multi-omics, longitudinal data resource has great potential to advance translational geroscience. ClinicalTrials.gov registration: NCT00427193 .</p>","PeriodicalId":94150,"journal":{"name":"Nature aging","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":17.0,"publicationDate":"2024-12-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142823043","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Nature agingPub Date : 2024-12-13DOI: 10.1038/s43587-024-00769-y
Julia L. Balough, Shweta S. Dipali, Karen Velez, T. Rajendra Kumar, Francesca E. Duncan
{"title":"Hallmarks of female reproductive aging in physiologic aging mice","authors":"Julia L. Balough, Shweta S. Dipali, Karen Velez, T. Rajendra Kumar, Francesca E. Duncan","doi":"10.1038/s43587-024-00769-y","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s43587-024-00769-y","url":null,"abstract":"The female reproductive axis is one of the first organ systems to age, which has consequences for fertility and overall health. Here, we provide a comprehensive overview of the biological process of female reproductive aging across reproductive organs, tissues and cells based on research with widely used physiologic aging mouse models, and describe the mechanisms that underpin these phenotypes. Overall, aging is associated with dysregulation of the hypothalamic–pituitary–ovarian axis, perturbations of the ovarian stroma, reduced egg quantity and quality, and altered uterine morphology and function that contributes to reduced capacity for fertilization and impaired embryo development. Ultimately, these age-related phenotypes contribute to altered pregnancy outcomes and adverse consequences in offspring. Conserved mechanisms of aging, as well as those unique to the reproductive system, underlie these phenotypes. The knowledge of such mechanisms will lead to development of therapeutics to extend female reproductive longevity and support endocrine function and overall health. Female reproductive system aging has consequences for fertility and overall health. In this Review, the authors provide a comprehensive overview of the biological process of female reproductive aging based on research with physiologic aging mouse models, and describe the mechanisms that underlie these phenotypes.","PeriodicalId":94150,"journal":{"name":"Nature aging","volume":"4 12","pages":"1711-1730"},"PeriodicalIF":17.0,"publicationDate":"2024-12-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142821508","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Nature agingPub Date : 2024-12-13DOI: 10.1038/s43587-024-00767-0
Celine Camon, Michael Garratt, Stephanie M. Correa
{"title":"Exploring the effects of estrogen deficiency and aging on organismal homeostasis during menopause","authors":"Celine Camon, Michael Garratt, Stephanie M. Correa","doi":"10.1038/s43587-024-00767-0","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s43587-024-00767-0","url":null,"abstract":"Sex hormone signaling declines during aging, from early midlife through menopause, as a consequence of reduced circulating estrogens and decreased receptiveness to these hormones in target tissues. Estrogens preserve energy homeostasis and promote metabolic health via coordinated and simultaneous effects throughout the brain and body. Age-associated loss of estrogen production during menopause has been implicated in a higher risk for metabolic diseases and increased mortality. However, it remains unclear whether age-associated changes in homeostasis are dependent on reduced estrogen signaling during menopause. Although menopausal hormone therapies containing estrogens can alleviate symptoms, concerns about the risks involved have contributed to a broad decline in the use of these approaches. Non-hormonal therapies have emerged that target tissues or pathways with varying levels of selectivity, reducing risk. We summarize here the broad effects of estrogen loss on homeostasis during menopause, current and emerging therapies and opportunities for understanding homeostatic disruptions associated with menopause. Sex hormone signaling declines during aging. In this Review, the authors provide an overview of the role of estrogen signaling in the maintenance of energy homeostasis and the dysregulation of this equilibrium during menopause, dissect the contributions of hormonal decline and aging to health changes and discuss current and emerging therapies.","PeriodicalId":94150,"journal":{"name":"Nature aging","volume":"4 12","pages":"1731-1744"},"PeriodicalIF":17.0,"publicationDate":"2024-12-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142821516","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}