Evidence mapPaperPMID 41653249Full record

ArticleGeroScience2026

Early-life exposures, biological age acceleration, and type 2 diabetes in adulthood: mediation analyses in the UK Biobank.

Denghui Hu, Diana van Heemst, Qiuyu Feng, Ko Willems van Dijk, Raymond Noordam

Abstract read
PubMed Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in GeroScience, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

Denghui HuDepartment of Human Genetics, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, the Netherlands. d.hu@lumc.nl.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1908-9637
Diana van HeemstDepartment of Internal Medicine, Section of Gerontology and Geriatrics, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, the Netherlands.
Qiuyu FengDepartment of Human Genetics, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, the Netherlands.
Ko Willems van DijkDepartment of Human Genetics, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, the Netherlands.
Raymond NoordamDepartment of Clinical Epidemiology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, the Netherlands.

Funding

China Scholarship Council 202306240049China Scholarship Council 202406210047
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Early-life exposures could affect the risk of type 2 diabetes (T2D) in adulthood, but the mechanisms remain unclear. We included 319,951 (54.5% women) UK Biobank participants free of T2D at baseline and within the first year of follow-up to investigate whether early-life exposures contribute to T2D through biological aging estimated using the Klemera-Doubal (KDM) and PhenoAge methods. We first examined associations of exposures with biological age and T2D, respectively, using multivariable-adjusted linear models and Cox regression models. Next, we investigated the role of biological age acceleration in exposure-T2D associations using mediation analyses. Overall, the mean (standard deviation) chronological age of participants was 56.3 (8.1) years, KDM age was 40.9 (13.1) years, and PhenoAge was 44.4 (10.0) years. 17,062 T2D cases developed during a median (interquartile range) follow-up of 14.3 (13.5-15.0) years. Maternal smoking around birth, being part of a multiple birth, earlier puberty, and being relatively plumper or thinner at age ten were associated with both a higher biological age and T2D risk, while having a higher birth weight and being breastfed were associated with a lower T2D risk. Biological age acceleration partly mediated the exposure-T2D associations, ranging from a proportion of 8.3% (95%CI: 6.0-13.1%) of the association between birthweight-T2D being mediated by PhenoAge to a proportion of 27.7% (95%CI: 15.3-48.5%) of the association between breastfeeding-T2D being mediated by KDM. In conclusion, early-life exposures were associated with biological age acceleration that partly mediated the exposure-T2D associations, highlighting the importance of addressing early-life risks and biological aging in prevention strategies.

Indexed as

Biological age accelerationEarly-life exposuresMediationType 2 diabetes

Identifiers

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.