Genetic insights into biological aging and myasthenia gravis: a Mendelian randomization study of telomere length, epigenetic clocks, and mitochondrial DNA copy number
Our findings demonstrate a bidirectional causality between EOMG and epigenetic aging clocks, which indicates that there is a self-reinforcing pathophysiological cycle. The epigenetic age acceleration is both a driver and a result of the progression of EOMG. The correlation between mtDNA-CN and LOMG suggests that there may be a potential compensatory adaptation mechanism to combat chronic oxidative stress in age-related autoimmunity. These results highlight the complex and subtype-dependent contributions of biological aging to the autoimmune-mediated pathology of MG, and provide key mechanistic insights into the subtype-specific aging in MG.
Authors
- Kangzhi Chen
- Xiang Wei (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8812-6377)
- Ting He (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6681-5083)
- Huan Yang
- Qian Zhou
- Yining Luan
Institutions
- Central South University (CN)
- Xiangya Hospital Central South University (CN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Clinical Epigenetics
- Published
- 2026-02-14
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1186/s13148-026-02083-3
- Primary Topic
- Myasthenia Gravis and Thymoma
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00