Graduate Thesis Or Dissertation

 

Aging and the Plasma Metabolome: Relation to Physiological Function Public Deposited

https://scholar.colorado.edu/concern/graduate_thesis_or_dissertations/br86b3677
Abstract
  • Advancing age is associated with declines across numerous physiological systems, leading to an increased risk of chronic disease and disability. Whereas aging itself is inevitable, the rate at which physiological impairments occur is highly variable among individuals. Differences in the trajectory of physiological decline are due to complex biological processes; however, the molecular mechanisms underlying physiological impairments are not well understood. Metabolomics provides the unique opportunity to investigate systemic molecular changes in vivo by capturing perturbations in metabolic signaling linked to changes in physiological function. Therefore, the purpose of this dissertation was to determine the relation between metabolomic signatures and age-associated physiological declines in humans.Global metabolomics profiling of plasma from young and older adults demonstrated changes in metabolomic signatures with advancing age. Pathway analysis of altered metabolites identified amino acid and lipid metabolism as primary pathways modified with age, and targeted metabolomic approaches confirmed these differences. Furthermore, changes in small molecule profiles were related to numerous clinically relevant indicators of human healthspan. Additionally, in a systems biology approach to further investigate the molecular underpinnings of age-associated physiological declines, metabolomics analyses were applied to a model of biological aging. In a longitudinal study of older adults, biological age was quantified by integrating numerous clinical and physiological measures of human health. Importantly, biological age was significantly related to plasma metabolomic profiles, and these small molecule signatures were also associated with, and predictive of, rates of biological aging.Collectively, these studies indicate that changes to the plasma metabolome with advancing age are related to physiological dysfunction in older adults. Moreover, these findings not only present valuable insight into pathways that may modulate healthy aging, our results also provide evidence for easily accessible blood-based markers of age-associated physiological declines in humans.
Creator
Date Issued
  • 2018
Academic Affiliation
Advisor
Committee Member
Degree Grantor
Commencement Year
Subject
Last Modified
  • 2019-11-16
Resource Type
Rights Statement
Language

Relationships

Items