Alcohol and aging: Next-generation epigenetic clocks predict biological age acceleration in individuals with alcohol use disorder.

Background: Chronic heavy alcohol use is a major risk factor for premature aging and age-related diseases. DNA methylation (DNAm)-based epigenetic clocks are novel tools for predicting biological age. However, the newest configurations, causality-enriched epigenetic clocks, have not been assessed in the context of alcohol consumption and alcohol use disorder (AUD).