Timing of menarche and menopause and epigenetic aging among U.S. adults: results from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 1999–2002

Reproductive aging, including timing of menarche and menopause, influences long-term morbidity and mortality in women, yet underlying biological mechanisms remain poorly understood. Using DNA methylation-based biomarkers, we assessed associations of age at menarche (N = 1,033) and menopause (N = 658) with epigenetic aging in a nationally representative sample of women ≥ 50 years. Later age at menopause was associated with lower GrimAge epigenetic age deviation ( <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"><mml:mi>B</mml:mi></mml:math> = - 0.10 years, 95% CI: - 0.19, - 0.02). No associations were observed for menarche timing. This suggests a connection between earlier menopause and biological aging, with potential clinical implications for identifying those at high risk for age-related disease.

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Publication Details

Journal
Clinical Epigenetics
Published
2025-02-21
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s13148-025-01827-x
Citations
4
Primary Topic
Endometriosis Research and Treatment
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
6.79

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article

Timing of menarche and menopause and epigenetic aging among U.S. adults: results from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 1999–2002

Jamaji C. Nwanaji‐Enwerem, Nicole Gladish, Julianna Deardorff, Belinda L. Needham et al.
4 citations
Clinical Epigenetics
Endometriosis Research and Treatment
6.79
article

Timing of menarche and menopause and epigenetic aging among U.S. adults: results from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 1999–2002

Jamaji C. Nwanaji‐Enwerem, Nicole Gladish, Julianna Deardorff, Belinda L. Needham, Saher Daredia, Dennis Khodasevich, Andrés Cárdenas, Hanyang Shen, Anne K. Bozack, David H. Rehkopf
article en
4 citations

Abstract

Reproductive aging, including timing of menarche and menopause, influences long-term morbidity and mortality in women, yet underlying biological mechanisms remain poorly understood. Using DNA methylation-based biomarkers, we assessed associations of age at menarche (N = 1,033) and menopause (N = 658) with epigenetic aging in a nationally representative sample of women ≥ 50 years. Later age at menopause was associated with lower GrimAge epigenetic age deviation ( <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"><mml:mi>B</mml:mi></mml:math> = - 0.10 years, 95% CI: - 0.19, - 0.02). No associations were observed for menarche timing. This suggests a connection between earlier menopause and biological aging, with potential clinical implications for identifying those at high risk for age-related disease.

Clinical EpigeneticsVol. 17(1)
University of Michigan (US), Stanford Health Care (US), Stanford Medicine (US), Berkeley Public Health Division (US), University of Pennsylvania (US), University of California, Berkeley (US), Stanford University (US)
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities
Good health and well-being
Openalex Percentile: Top 4%
Endometriosis Research and Treatment
6.79
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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