Aging rates in converter shop workers and the contribution of the SIRT1 rs7069102 polymorphism

Introduction. Working in hazardous conditions is associated with physical overload and to adverse exposure to physical and chemical factors, both leading to the early manifestation of diseases. Accounting for the biological age of workers is critical as it helps to detect premature aging and take timely, personalized measures to maintain health and workability. SIRT1, commonly termed the “longevity gene”, protects cells from oxidative stress, and its polymorphism can potentially affect aging rates.

The aim of the study. To determine aging rates in ferrous metallurgy workers and evaluate the association between them and the SIRT1 rs7069102 polymorphism.

Materials and methods. The study included two hundred twenty nine men aged of 30 to 59 years working at a metallurgical plant. The converter shop group consisted of 103 workers while the reference group included 126 employees from administrative and management units. Aging rates in the subjects were determined using the Gorelkin – Pinkhasov method. SIRT1 gene polymorphism was genotyped using the commercially available SNP-Screen kit (Synthol, Russia) by real-time PCR. Odds ratios with 95 % confidence intervals (CI) were calculated using SPSS.

Results. Calculations of the odds ratio showed that working in the converter shop more than doubled the risk of an accelerated aging rate compared to normal or delayed rates (OR = 2.221; 95% CI = 1.303–3.785; p = 0.004). A high, though insignificant, prevalence of accelerated aging was found in carriers of the mutant G allele in the reference group.

Limitations. Neither health effects of electromagnetic radiation from office equipment nor the lifestyle of the study participants were taken into account in the analysis. Biological age was determined using the method that allowed for anthropometric parameters only.

Conclusions. Working in the converter shop increased the risk of accelerated aging. The SIRT1 rs7069102 polymorphism did not contribute significantly to the aging rate in either study group.

Compliance with ethical standards. Ethics approval was provided by the local Ethics Committee of the Yekaterinburg Medical Research Center for Prophylaxis and Health Protection in Industrial Workers (Protocol No. 1 of February 26, 2021). The research was done in accordance with ethical principles of the World Medical Association (2013) Declaration of Helsinki. All subjects gave their written informed consent for inclusion before they participated in the study.

Contributions:
Astakhova S.G. – study conception and design, data collection and processing, draft manuscript preparation;
Bereza I.A., Shaikhova D.R., Kikot A.M. – statistical data analysis, draft manuscript preparation, editing;
Sutunkova M.P., Potaturko A.V., Fedoruk A.A. – study conception and design, editing;
Polianina D.D., Bokovoy V.D. – data collection and processing.
All authors are responsible for the integrity of all parts of the manuscript and approval of its final version.

Conflict of interest. The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Funding. The study had no sponsorship.

Received: May 25, 2026 / Revised: June 5, 2026 / Accepted: July 1, 2026 / Published: September 28, 2026

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