Українська English

ISSN 2522-9028 (Print)
ISSN 2522-9036 (Online)
DOI: https://doi.org/10.15407/fz

Fiziologichnyi Zhurnal

(English title: Physiological Journal)

is a scientific journal issued by the

Bogomoletz Institute of Physiology
National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine

Editor-in-chief: V.F. Sagach

The journal was founded in 1955 as
1955 – 1977 "Fiziolohichnyi zhurnal" (ISSN 0015 – 3311)
1978 – 1993 "Fiziologicheskii zhurnal" (ISSN 0201 – 8489)
1994 – 2016 "Fiziolohichnyi zhurnal" (ISSN 0201 – 8489)
2017 – "Fiziolohichnyi zhurnal" (ISSN 2522-9028)

Fiziol. Zh. 2025; 71(3): 3-11

The Impact of War on the Biological Age and Aging Rate of Physiological Systems in Ukrainian Civilians

V.B. Shatylo, A.V. Pysaruk, E.O. Asanov, S.S. Naskalova, O.V. Bondarenko, L.V. Mekhova

  1. State Institution “D.F. Chebotarev Institute of Gerontology of the National Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine”, Kyiv, Ukraine
DOI: https://doi.org/10.15407/fz71.03.003


Abstract

One of the consequences of the negative impact of war-related stress is accelerated aging, which at the cellular level manifests as an increase in biological age (DNA methylation) and short- ening of telomere length. The study aimed to investigate the impact of war and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) on the biological age and aging rate of physiological systems in Ukrainian civilians. To determine the biological age and ag- ing rate in individuals aged 30-59, the results of examinations of 29 men and 44 women before the war and 49 men and 75 women who experienced intense and prolonged exposure to stressors during the Russian-Ukrainian war were used. PTSD was diagnosed in 20 women using the PCL-5 questionnaire. Using previously developed methods, the biological age and aging rate of the cardiovascular system, respiratory system, nervous system, biological metabolic age, and metabolic ag- ing rate were determined. During the war, the aging rate of the cardiovascular system in civilian men without PTSD was significantly higher (6.3 ± 1.5 years) than in men before the war. Also, during the war, men had a slightly higher aging rate of the nervous system (2.8 ± 0.8 years) and biological meta- bolic age (8.6 ± 1.2 years). In civilian women without PTSD during the war, the aging rate of the cardiovascular system, respiratory system, and nervous system did not change. Still, there was a slight increase in biological metabolic age (5.5 ± 0.9 years). Women with mild manifestations of PTSD had a higher aging rate of the cardiovascular system (5.8 ± 1.7 years), nervous system (4.1 ± 0.6 years), and biological metabolic age (8.5 ± 1.8 years) compared to women examined before the war. compared to women examined before the war. During the war, the aging rate of the cardiovascular system and nervous system was statistically significantly higher in women with PTSD than in women without PTSD. The results supplement the concept of accelerated aging in people with PTSD with new data indicating accelerated aging of the organism at the level of physiological systems, especially in women with PTSD.

Keywords: Russian-Ukrainian war; civilian men and women; post-traumatic stress disorder; biological age; accelerated aging; physiological systems.

Full text: (PDF, in Ukrainian)

References

  1. Lohr JB, Palmer BW, Eidt CA, Aailaboyina S, Mausbach BT, Wolkowitz OM, Thorp SR, Jeste DV . Is post-traumatic stress disorder associated with premature senescence? A review of the literature. Am J Geriatr Psychiatr. 2015 Jul;23(7):709-25. doi: 10.1016/j.jagp.2015.04.001. CrossRef PubMed PubMedCentral
  2. Miller MW, Sadeh N. Traumatic stress, oxidative stress and post-traumatic stress disorder: neurodegeneration and the accelerated-aging hypothesis. Mol Psychiatr. 2014 Nov;19(11):1156-62. doi: 10.1038/mp.2014.111. CrossRef PubMed PubMedCentral
  3. Wolf EJ, Morrison FG. Traumatic stress and accelerated cellular aging: from epigenetics to cardiometabolic disease. Curr Psychiatr Rep. 2017 Aug 29;19(10):75. doi: 10.1007/s11920-017-0823-5. CrossRef PubMed PubMedCentral
  4. Wang Z, Hui Q, Goldberg J, Smith N, Kaseer B, Mur-rah N, Levantsevych OM, Shallenberger L, Diggers E, Bremner JD, Vaccarino V , Sun YV . Association between posttraumatic stress disorder and epigenetic age acceleration in a sample of twins. Psychosom Med. 2022 Feb-Mar 01;84(2):151-8. doi: 10.1097/PSY .0000000000001028. CrossRef PubMed PubMedCentral
  5. Bourassa KJ, Garrett ME, Caspi A, Dennis M, Hall KS, Moffitt TE, Taylor GA, VA Mid Atlantic MIRECC Workgroup, Ashley-Koch AE, Beckham JC, Kimbrel NA. Posttraumatic stress disorder, trauma, and accelerated biological aging among post-9/11 veterans. Transl Psychiatr. 2024 Jan 6;14(1):4. doi: 10.1038/s41398-023- 02704-y.
  6. Howard JT, Janak JC, Santos-Lozada AR, McEvilla S, Ansley SD, Walker LE, Spiro A, Stewart IJ. Telomere shortening and accelerated aging in US Military veterans. Int J Environ Res Publ Health. 2021 Feb 11;18(4):1743. doi: 10.3390/ijerph18041743. CrossRef PubMed PubMedCentral
  7. Watkins LE, Harpaz-Rotem I, Sippel LM, Krystal JH, Southwick SM, Pietrzak RH. Hostility and telomere shortening among US military veterans: Results from the National Health and Resilience in Veterans Study. Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2016 Dec;74:251-7. doi: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2016.09.006. CrossRef PubMed
  8. Kang JI, Mueller SG, Wu GWY , Lin J, Ng P, Yehuda R, Flory JD, Abu-Amara D, Reus VI, Gautam A; PTSD Systems Biology Consortium; Hammamieh R, Doyle FJ 3rd, Jett M, Marmar CR, Mellon SH, Wolkowitz OM. EfВплив війни на біологічний вік і темп старіння фізіологічних систем у цивільних українців 11 fect of combat exposure and posttraumatic stress disorder on telomere length and amygdala volume. Biol Psychiatr Cogn Neurosci NeuroImag. 2020 Jul;5(7):678-87. doi: 10.1016/j.bpsc.2020.03.007. CrossRef PubMed
  9. Qureshi SU, Kimbrell T, Pyne JM, Magruder KM, Hud-son TJ, Petersen NJ, Yu HJ, Schulz PE, Kunik ME. Greater prevalence and incidence of dementia in older veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder. J Am Geriatr Soc. 2010 Sep;58(9):1627-33. doi: 10.1111/j.1532- 5415.2010.02977.x. PMID: 20863321. CrossRef PubMed
  10. Ahmadi N, Hajsadeghi F, Mirshkarlo HB, Budoff M, Ye-huda R, Ebrahimi R. Post-traumatic stress disorder, coronary atherosclerosis, and mortality. Am J Cardiol. 2011 Jul 1;108(1):29-33. doi: 10.1016/j.amjcard.2011.02.340. CrossRef PubMed
  11. Chaban OS, Khaustova OO, Omelianovych VIu. Psykh-ichni rozlady voiennoho chasu. Kyiv : Vydavnychyi dim Medknyha, 2023.
    12. Pisaruk A, Asanov E, Naskalova S, Antoniuk-Shcheglova I, Bondarenko O, Dyba I, Mekhova L, Pisaruk L, Shatilo V . Effects of war-related stress on the cardiovascular system, metabolism and the rate of ageing in women. Ageing Long. 2024; 5(1), 21-8. Retrieved from https://aginglongevity.org.ua/journal-description/article/view/117 CrossRef Аsanov Е, Pisaruk A, Dyba I, Antoniuk-Shcheglova I, Shatilo V . Age-related features of the respiratory system functioning in women who experienced chronic stress caused by war. Ageing Long. 2023; 4(4), 124-8. Retrieved from https://aging-longevity.org.ua/journal-description/ article/view/109 CrossRef Shatylo V , Naskalova S, Pysaruk A, Asanov E, Bondarenko O, Koshel N, Dyba I, Slipchenko V . Effects of war-related stress on the state of carbohydrate and lipid metabolism and the rate of metabolic aging in women of different ages. Endokrinology. [Internet]. 2024Jun.30 [cited 2024Oct.30];29(2):148-54. Availablefrom: https://endokrynologia.com.ua/index.php/journal/article/view/747 CrossRef Bezsheiko V . Adaptation of the Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale and PTSD Checklist for Ukrainian population. PMGP [Internet]. 2016 Sep. 19 [cited 2025 Apr. 8];1(1):e010108. Available from: https://dev-ojs.emedjournal.com/index.php/psp/article/view/8
  12. Mihaylov BV , Serdyuk OI, Chugunov VV , Kurilo VO, Andruh P, ZasEda Yu I. Experimental-psychological research in general practice - family medicine. A guide for doctors-interns and doctors-students of institutions (faculties) of postgraduate education. Kharkiv: HMAPO, 2014.
  13. Makarenko MV , Luzogyb VS. Maximal rate of moving reacnion in humans and peculiarities of basic nervous processes. Fiziol Zh. 2002; 48(5): 62-6.
  14. León J, Ureña A, Bolaños MJ, Bilbao A, Oña A. A com-bination of physical and cognitive exercise improves reaction time in persons 61-84 years old. J Aging Phys Act. 2015 Jan;23(1):72-7. doi: 10.1123/japa.2012-0313. Epub 2014 Jan 10. PMID: 24413071. CrossRef PubMed
  15. Hrybok N, Ivanikiv N, Chepeliuk A. Biological wind as integral indicator of the level of individual health of the student. Sci J Natl Pedagog Dragomanov Univ. 2019 5 (113): 84-9.
  16. Korkushko OV , Gorban EM, Bondarenko OV , Antonyuk-Shcheglova IA, Naskalova SS, Parshykov OV, Utko NO, Gavalko A V , Shatilo VB, Duzhak GV . Application of quercetin for correction of the impairment of the functional state of the vessels (clinical and experimental study). Probl Radiac Med Radiobiol. 2020 Dec;25:321- 37. doi: 10.33145/2304-8336-2020-25-321-337. PMID: 33361844. CrossRef PubMed
  17. American Diabetes Association Professional Practice Committee. 2. Classification and Diagnosis of Diabetes: Standards of Medical Care in Diabetes-2022. Diabet Care. 2022 Jan 1;45(Suppl 1):S17-S38. doi: 10.2337/ dc22-S002. PMID: 34964875. CrossRef PubMed
    18. Naskalova S, Shatilo V , Pisaruk A, Antoniuk-Shcheglova I, Bondarenko O, Bodretska L, Shapovalenko I. Estimating the functional age of the respiratory system. Ageing Long. 2022; 3(3), 71-6. Retrieved from http://aging-longevity. org.ua/journal-description/article/view/55 CrossRef Pysaruk A, Chyzhova V, Shatylo V. Biological age of women with the metabolic syndrome. Endokrinology. [Internet]. 2023Sep.30 [cited 2024Oct.29];28(3):207-13. Available from: https://endokrynologia.com.ua/index. php/journal/article/view/708 CrossRef
  18. Pisaruk AV, Mekhova LV, Antoniuk-Shcheglova IA, Pisaruk LV , Koshel N M, Ivanov SG. Estimating biological age of the autonomic regulation cardio-vascular system. Ageing Long. 2022; 3(1),1-7https: //doi. org/10.47855/jal9020-2022-1-1. CrossRef
  19. Guryanov VG, Lyakh YuE, Pariy VD. Biostatistics guide. Analysis of the results of medical research in the EZR package (R-statistics): tutorial. Kyiv: Vistka, 2018.
  20. Yang R, Wu GWY , Verhoeven JE, Gautam A, Reus VI, et al. A DNA methylation clock associated with age-related illnesses and mortality is accelerated in men with combat PTSD. Mol Psychiatr. 2021 Sep;26(9):4999-5009. doi: 10.1038/s41380-020-0755-z. CrossRef PubMed
  21. Bourassa KJ, Sbarra DA. Trauma, adversity, and biologi-cal aging: behavioral mechanisms relevant to treatment and theory. Transl Psychiatr. 2024 Jul 12;14(1):285. doi: 10.1038/s41398-024-03004-9. CrossRef PubMed PubMedCentral
  22. Roberts AL, Koenen KC, Chen Q, Gilsanz P, Mason SM, Prescott J, Ratanatharathorn A, Rimm EB, Sumner JA, Winning A, De Vivo I, Kubzansky LD. Posttraumatic stress disorder and accelerated aging: PTSD and leukocyte telomere length in a sample of civilian women. Depress Anxiety. 2017 May;34(5):391-400. doi: 10.1002/ da.22620. Epub 2017 Apr 5. CrossRef PubMed PubMedCentral
© National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Bogomoletz Institute of Physiology, 2014-2025.