Long-term impact of paediatric critical illness on the difference between epigenetic and chronological age in relation to physical growth

BACKGROUND: Altered DNA-methylation affects biological ageing in adults and developmental processes in children. DNA-methylation is altered by environmental factors, trauma and illnesses. We hypothesised that paediatric critical illness, and the nutritional management in the paediatric intensive care unit (PICU), affects DNA-methylation changes that underly the developmental processes of childhood ageing. RESULTS: We studied the impact of critical illness, and of the early use of parenteral nutrition (early-PN) versus late-PN, on “epigenetic age-deviation” in buccal mucosa of 818 former PICU-patients (406 early-PN, 412 late-PN) who participated in the 2-year follow-up of the multicentre PEPaNIC-RCT (ClinicalTrials.gov-NCT01536275), as compared with 392 matched healthy children, and assessed whether this relates to their impaired growth. The epigenetic age-deviation (difference between PedBE clock-estimated epigenetic age and chronological age) was calculated. Using bootstrapped multivariable linear regression models, we assessed the impact hereon of critical illness, and of early-PN versus late-PN. As compared with healthy children, epigenetic age of patients assessed 2 years after PICU-admission deviated negatively from chronological age (p < 0.05 in 51% of bootstrapped replicates), similarly in early-PN and late-PN groups. Next, we identified vulnerable subgroups for epigenetic age-deviation using interaction analysis. We revealed that DNA-methylation age-deceleration in former PICU-patients was dependent on age at time of illness (p < 0.05 for 83% of bootstrapped replicates), with vulnerability starting from 6 years onwards. Finally, we assessed whether vulnerability to epigenetic age-deviation could be related to impaired growth from PICU-admission to follow-up at 2 and 4 years. Multivariable repeated measures ANOVA showed that former PICU-patients, as compared with healthy children, grew less in height (p = 0.0002) and transiently gained weight (p = 0.0003) over the 4-year time course. Growth in height was more stunted in former PICU-patients aged ≥ 6-years at time of critical illness (p = 0.002) than in the younger patients. CONCLUSIONS: As compared with healthy children, former PICU-patients, in particular those aged ≥ 6-years at time of illness, revealed epigenetic age-deceleration, with a physical correlate revealing stunted growth in height. Whether this vulnerability around the age of 6 years for epigenetic age-deceleration and stunted growth years later relates to altered endocrine pathways activated at the time of adrenarche requires further investigation. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13148-023-01424-w.