Genetics plays an integral role in athletic performance and is increasingly becoming recognised as an important risk factor for injury. Ankle and knee injuries are the most common injuries sustained by soccer players. Often these injuries result in players missing training and matches, which can incur significant costs to clubs. This study aimed to identify genotypes associated with ankle and knee injuries in soccer players and how these impacted the number of matches played. 289 soccer players, including 46 professional, 98 semi-professional and 145 amateur players, were genetically tested. Ankle and knee injuries and the number of matches played were recorded during the 2014/15 season. Four genes were assessed in relation to injury. Genotypes found to be associated with injury included the TT (nucleobase) genotype of the GDF5 gene, TT and CT (nucleobase) genotypes of AMPD1 gene, TT genotype of COL5A1 and GG (nucleobase) genotype of IGF2 gene. These genes were also associated with a decrease in the number of matches played.

DailyColors™ is a supplement made up of several phytonutrients that aims to replicate elements from the Mediterranean diet. These include fruit, berry and vegetable extracts that are rich in key phytochemicals such as Quercetin, Catechins, Phloretin, Ellagic Acid, and Anthocyanins. Here, we determined the effects of DailyColors™ on the blood biomarkers associated with the diverse mechanisms implicated in ageing and age-related diseases, including mitochondrial function, inflammation, and oxidative stress, as well as on saliva’s DNA methylation pattern. Thirty adult participants (mean (SD) age = 67.0 (7.5) years) with a body mass index over 25 were recruited into this randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, cross-over trial (two one-week treatment periods, separated by a one-week washout period). During the placebo period, we observed a significant increase in blood CD38 concentrations from the baseline to 24 h (p-value = 0.019). This was not observed in the active period. Increased CD38 is reportedly associated with subsequent mitochondrial dysfunction and inflammation. Next, there was a decreasing trend of plasma 4-HNE levels, an oxidative stress biomarker, after a one-week intake of DailyColors™. Furthermore, following a one-month open-label follow-up in 26 participants, we observed hypermethylation of the candidate CpG site cg13108341 (q-value = 0.021), which was against the observed trend for this site during ageing. Taken together, while minimal effects were observed in this study, DailyColors™ supplementation may be beneficial by altering and alleviating age-related changes. Longer and larger scale trials of DailyColors™ supplementation are warranted.

Background/Objectives: DNA methylation profiles have emerged as robust biomarkers of ageing, leading to the development of “epigenetic clocks” that estimate biological age. Most established clocks (e.g., Horvath’s 353-CpG pan-tissue clock and Hannum’s 71-CpG blood clock) require dozens to hundreds of CpG sites. This study presents a novel saliva-specific epigenetic clock built on 10 sites identified from Illumina MethylationEPIC (850 k) array data. Methods: Saliva DNA methylation was analysed from 3408 individuals (age range 15–89 years, 68% male, 32% female, no diagnosed disease) from the Muhdo Health Ltd. dataset (2022–2024), and 10 CpG sites were selected where methylation levels showed the strongest positive correlations with chronological age (Pearson r = 0.48–0.66, p < 1 × 10−20). These CpGs map to genes involved in developmental and metabolic pathways (including ELOVL2, CHGA, OTUD7A, PRLHR, ZYG11A, and GPR158). A linear combination of the 10 methylation sites was used to calculate a “DNA methylation age”. Results: The 10-CpG clock’s predictions were highly correlated with chronological age (r = 0.80, R2 = 0.64), with a mean absolute error of ~5.5 years. Its performance, while slightly less precise than Horvath’s or Hannum’s multi-CpG clocks, is notable given the minimal marker set. It was observed that all 10 clock CpGs undergo age-related hypermethylation. The biological significance of these loci is discussed, along with the potential health and forensic applications of a saliva-based epigenetic age predictor. Conclusions: This study demonstrates that a saliva-specific epigenetic clock using only 10 CpG sites can capture a substantial portion of age-related DNA methylation changes, providing a cost-effective tool for age estimation.

Recent developments in physiological, imaging and digital biomarkers combined with the approval of new disease-modifying drugs against Alzheimer's disease (AD) and diagnostic blood tests provide an opportunity to shift the first diagnostic steps to the home-setting. While these novel biomarkers enable scalable screening and earlier detection and treatment of AD, they require an evaluation of their accuracy, feasibility, and safety in primary care and the community setting. The aim of PREDICTOM is to develop and test the accuracy of an artificial intelligence (AI) driven screening platform for the risk assessment and early detection of AD to extend the clinical pathway to home-based screening using established and novel biomarkers. PREDICTOM is a European (Norway, UK, Belgium, France, Switzerland, Germany, Spain) observational, prospective cohort study using a cloud-based platform that stores a digitalised journey for each participant and provides a collection of artificial-intelligence (AI) algorithms and tools for risk assessment and early diagnosis and prognosis. Cohort 1 consists of 4000 adults aged 50 years or older at risk of developing AD. Cohort 2 consists of 615 participants selected from Cohort 1 based on estimates indicating high (N = 415) or low (N = 200) risk of AD. Data from existing cohorts will guide the analytic strategy of the study. Cohort 1 will undergo home-based assessments (Level 1), Cohort 2 will undergo in-clinic assessments (Levels 2 and 3). Level 1 includes at-home screening, collecting digital and physiological data (questionnaires, cognition, hearing, eye-tracking) and biofluids (capillary blood via finger-stick and saliva) for biomarker analysis. Level 2 comprises a more complex biomarker collection, most of which can be completed in primary care, including EEG, MRI, venous blood, microbiome from stool, cognition, hearing, and eye-tracking. Level 3 includes a diagnostic evaluation to confirm or rule out AD pathology using established biomarkers (cerebrospinal fluid, or amyloid PET). PREDICTOM will develop AI-driven algorithms for the early detection of AD using biomarkers that can be collected at home or in the community care setting, and evaluate their integration into a well-defined and comprehensive clinical pathway.

Genetics plays an integral role in athletic performance and is increasingly becoming recognised as an important risk factor for injury. Ankle and knee injuries are the most common injuries sustained by soccer players. Often these injuries result in players missing training and matches, which can incur significant costs to clubs. This study aimed to identify genotypes associated with ankle and knee injuries in soccer players and how these impacted the number of matches played. 289 soccer players including 46 professional, 98 semi-professional and 145 amateur players were genetically tested. Ankle and knee injuries and the number of matches played were recorded during the 2014/15 season. Four genes were assessed in relation to injury. Genotypes found to be associated with injury included the TT genotype of the GDF5 gene, TT and CT genotypes of AMPD1 gene, TT genotype of COL5A1 and GG genotype of IGF2 gene. These genes were also associated with a decrease in the number of matches played.

This study introduces the MuhdoAge clock, a novel saliva-based epigenetic clock, designed to predict biological age with strong correlations in a healthy, disease-free cohort. Leveraging a comprehensive dataset from Muhdo Health, this research analyses saliva samples utilising the Illumina MethylationEPIC array. Through robust statistical methods, 237 significant CpG sites were identified that correlate with age-related methylation changes, exhibiting a coefficient of determination (R²) of 0.652 after outlier removal, with tiered algorithmic design improving this further to 0.726 in a new dataset that combined pathologic and healthy individuals (n=2682). Comparatively, the MuhdoAge clock was evaluated against other known epigenetic clocks, demonstrating high precision in predicting biological age within healthy individuals (R² = 0.878, n=1844), emphasising its potential utility in non-invasive, large-scale applications. The clock shows promise for integration into public health strategies for monitoring and potentially mitigating age-related decline, facilitated by its ease of use and accessibility through saliva sampling. Furthermore, this study highlights the impact of lifestyle and environmental factors on biological ageing, highlighting the importance of personalised health interventions. Future research is to focus on longitudinal studies to validate these findings and explore the mechanisms underlying epigenetic age acceleration.