# The Microbiome and Biological Aging in the Add Health Study

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO · 2020 · $673,628

## Abstract

ABSTRACT
Age-related immune dysregulation and increases in inflammation, termed inflammaging, have been
consistently implicated in most common age-related diseases, but the precise etiology of inter-individual
differences in inflammaging are unknown. Changes in immunity and inflammation occur throughout the life
course, but research on these processes among non-elderly populations has been limited. This is important
because identifying sources of biological aging and inflammation before individuals reach older age may help
identify points for intervention. The composition of the gut microbiota has been shown in animal models to
have profound influence over, and interactions with, the immune system. Findings from germ-free mice
suggest that commensal gut microbes are a key cause of inflammaging, but this hypothesis has not been well-
explored in humans. There are currently very few data examining how the microbiome relates to the
fundamental aspects of aging biology, specifically inflammatory phenotypes and genomic markers of biological
age. We propose to fill gaps in current microbiome research on aging, through the collection and analysis of
oral and gut microbiome data in The National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health), a
nationally representative longitudinal cohort of adults with extensive social environment data and existing or
ongoing analyses of genomic and phenotypic markers of inflammation and aging. The specific aims include
the: 1) Collection of tongue and stool specimens with which to characterize the oral and gut microbiome in a
nationally-representative sample (N ~10,155) of Add Health participants (mean age ~40); 2) Testing the
association between the microbiome and biomarkers of aging and inflammation, and the creation of a novel
“microbiome age clock”; 3) Examination of the relationships between life course exposures and microbiome
species related to biomarkers of aging and inflammation as an adult; 4) Documentation and dissemination of
data generated from this project. This proposal represents the first study to assess how the oral and gut
microbiome are associated with biomarkers of DNA methylation aging and inflammation in a large US
representative sample of midlife adults. Our study will significantly advance our understanding of the life
course exposures from gestation to adulthood that shape microbiome markers of inflammaging and DNA
methylation aging. This is crucial because identifying microbiome markers of biological aging in adulthood will
allow us to better identify signs of early aging via the microbiome.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9914809
- **Project number:** 1R01AG066498-01
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO
- **Principal Investigator:** Allison E Aiello
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $673,628
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2020-06-15 → 2025-03-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9914809

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9914809, The Microbiome and Biological Aging in the Add Health Study (1R01AG066498-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9914809. Licensed CC0.

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