title: Epigenetic age analysis of children who seem to evade aging.
abstract: We previously reported the unusual case of a teenage girl stricken with multifocal developmental dysfunctions whose physical development was dramatically delayed resulting in her appearing to be a toddler or at best a preschooler, even unto the occasion of her death at the age of 20 years. Her life-long physician felt that the disorder was unique in the world and that future treatments for age-related diseases might emerge from its study. The objectives of our research were to determine if other such cases exist, and if so, whether aging is actually slowed. Of seven children characterized by dramatically slow developmental rates, five also had associated disorders displayed by the first case. All of the identified subjects were female. To objectively measure the age of blood tissue from these subjects, we used a highly accurate biomarker of aging known as "epigenetic clock" based on DNA methylation levels. No statistically significant differences in chronological and epigenetic ages were detected in any of the newly discovered cases.
authors.affiliation: Physician's Scientific and Regulatory Services, Inc., Indian Rocks Beach, FL 33785, USA.
authors.forename: Richard F
authors.initials: RF
authors.lastname: Walker
authors.affiliation: Department of Research, Complete Genomics Inc. Mountain View CA94043 USA，BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen 518083, China.
authors.forename: Jia Sophie
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Research, Complete Genomics Inc. Mountain View CA94043 USA，BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen 518083, China.
authors.forename: Brock A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Peters
authors.affiliation: Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.
authors.forename: Beate R
authors.initials: BR
authors.lastname: Ritz
authors.affiliation: Human Genetics, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.|UCLA Center for Neurobehavioral Genetics, Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.
authors.forename: Timothy
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Human Genetics, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.|UCLA Center for Neurobehavioral Genetics, Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.
authors.forename: Roel A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Ophoff
authors.affiliation: Human Genetics, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.|Biostatistics, School of Public Health, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.
authors.forename: Steve
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Horvath
mesh_terms: D000015:Abnormalities, Multiple / Q000235:genetics*; D000293:Adolescent; D000375:Aging / Q000235:genetics*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D019175:DNA Methylation / Q000235:genetics*; D044127:Epigenesis, Genetic / Q000235:genetics*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: DNA methylation; biomarker of aging; epigenetic clock; slow aging; syndrome X