Early life experiences are associated with later life DNA methylation signatures in the Health and Retirement Study

Long term associations of early life experiences with later life DNA methylation are understudied. In the U.S. Health and Retirement Study, participants self-reported early life experiences, including years in school, smoking during childhood, growing up in a rural area, and living with a grandparent. Later life DNA methylation was measured in blood for participants with a mean age of 69.6 years at 731,474 sites. We tested for associations between each early life experience with DNA methylation age acceleration, global and site-specific methylation, and enriched biological pathways. We compared results across early life experiences. Participants (N = 3,562) were 58.8% female and 68.1% non-Hispanic White. They reported 13 mean years in school, 18.3% smoked during childhood, 42.7% grew up in a rural area, and 26.8% lived with a grandparent. Fewer years in school (0.10, 95% CI: 0.06, 0.14) and smoking during childhood (0.65, 95% CI: 0.32, 0.97) were associated with accelerated GrimAge in later life, while living in a rural area and living with a grandparent were not associated. Early life experiences were associated (p<1x10-4) with distinct DNA methylation sites, specifically 574 sites for years in school, 20 for smoking during childhood, 49 for growing up in a rural area, and 23 for living with a grandparent. For example, one fewer year in school was associated with 0.47 (p-value = 4.61x10-15) lower percent methylation at cg07318158 in OTUD7B. Sites associated with our early life exposures were enriched for unique pathways. Years in school was enriched for embryonic development and cell structure pathways, smoking during childhood was enriched for nervous system development, exocytosis, and cell adhesion and structure pathways, growing up in a rural area was enriched for cell and vesicle processing pathways, and living with a grandparent was enriched for hormone regulation and protein breakdown pathways. Findings suggest our early life exposures are associated with unique DNA methylation patterns in later life, which can potentially allow for separate biomarker opportunities aimed at early intervention of adverse later life outcomes associated with these exposures.