PhenoAge

Definition

PhenoAge, short for phenotypic age, is a biological ageing measure designed to estimate mortality and morbidity risk using chronological age together with clinical biomarkers. DNAm PhenoAge is an epigenetic version of this measure that estimates phenotypic age from DNA methylation patterns. [1] [2]

Why It Matters in Ageing Research

PhenoAge matters because it was developed to capture health-related ageing rather than simply predict chronological age. This makes it useful in studies that ask whether people of the same calendar age differ in biological risk, disease burden, physical function, or mortality risk. [1] [2] [3]

Common Confusion

• PhenoAge is not the same as chronological age; it is intended to reflect biological and health-related risk.
• Phenotypic Age uses clinical biomarkers, while DNAm PhenoAge estimates a related measure from DNA methylation data.
• A higher or lower PhenoAge result should not be interpreted as a diagnosis or a complete measure of ageing.

Related Reading

• Biological Age
• Epigenetic Clocks
• DNA Methylation

References

1. Liu, Z., Kuo, P. L., Horvath, S., Crimmins, E., Ferrucci, L., & Levine, M. (2018). A new aging measure captures morbidity and mortality risk across diverse subpopulations from NHANES IV: A cohort study. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1002718
2. Levine, M. E., Lu, A. T., Quach, A., Chen, B. H., Assimes, T. L., Bandinelli, S., Hou, L., Baccarelli, A. A., Stewart, J. D., Li, Y., Whitsel, E. A., Wilson, J. G., Reiner, A. P., Aviv, A., Lohman, K., Liu, Y., Ferrucci, L., & Horvath, S. (2018). An epigenetic biomarker of aging for lifespan and healthspan. https://doi.org/10.18632/aging.101414
3. Horvath, S. (2013). DNA methylation age of human tissues and cell types. https://doi.org/10.1186/gb-2013-14-10-r115