Periodontitis prevalence and acceleration of biological aging: Insights from NHANES 2009-2014 and Mendelian randomization study.

Aim: This study aimed to investigate the association of periodontitis with biological aging and to assess potential causality using Mendelian randomization (MR).

Methods: A cross-sectional study with 9558 participants from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2009-2014) was conducted. Age acceleration (BioAgeAccel and PhenoAgeAccel) was calculated from clinical biomarkers and their discrepancies with chronological age. Two-sample MR analysis was performed using data from a large-scale genome-wide association study and UK Biobank.

Results: Periodontitis was associated with increased biological aging, with 0.57-year (95% CI: 0.28-0.86, p < .001) increases in BioAgeAccel and 0.41-year (95% CI: 0.04-0.78, p = .034) increases in PhenoAgeAccel. Subgroup analysis found significantly stronger associations in males for BioAgeAccele (P_INTERACTION = .006), and pronounced associations in young adults (p_interaction = .023), individuals with normal body mass index (p_interaction = .015), and current smokers (p_interaction = .016) for PehonAgeAccel. MR analysis did not provide strong evidence for a causal effect of periodontitis on biological aging (BioAgeAccel: IVW β = 0.008, 95% CI: -0.018 to 0.034, p = .553 and PhenoAgeAccel: IVW β = 0.016, 95% CI: -0.042 to 0.074, p = .585).

Conclusion: This study identified the association of periodontitis and its severity with accelerated aging, suggesting periodontal health could be a possible method in personalized preventive and therapeutic strategies of biological aging.