by Lizelda Lopez – UC San Diego Today –
First-of-its kind study reveals signs of premature biological aging in teenagers with MS pointing to new treatment possibilities beyond immunosuppression
Researchers from University of California San Diego School of Medicine have discovered that children living with multiple sclerosis (MS) show signs of accelerated biological aging, even in their teenage years. The research published online recently in Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology, is the first to examine whether MS causes early aging in a pediatric population — offering new insight into the disease and its long-term progression.
“We found evidence that children living with MS experience accelerated biological aging,” said Jennifer S. Graves, M.D., Ph.D., senior author of the study, professor and vice chair of neurosciences and division chief of neuroimmunology at UC San Diego. “Compared to young people without MS, youth with MS had evidence of accelerated epigenetic age, a measurement of DNA chemical modifications associated with aging. We know that aging is related to the development of a less treatable form of MS and that adults with MS face both normal aging and accelerated aging from the disease.”
