Age Prediction With Blood Proteins
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Age Prediction With Blood Proteins

A team of researchers from Stanford University School of Medicine has developed a reliable method that can predict your age! The test watches a kind of physiological clock: the levels of 373 proteins circulating in your blood.

According to scientists, changes in the levels of numerous proteins that migrate from the body’s tissues into circulating blood possibly cause, the phenomenon of aging. The Stanford researchers believe that measuring “certain proteins” in the blood can give information about a person’s health status.

Tony Wyss-Coray, Ph.D., professor of neurology and neurological sciences, said that one-third of proteins in the human blood witness a remarkable change with advancing age.

Age Prediction With Blood Proteins- The Study

The researchers analyzed plasma from 4,263 people ages 18-95.

The results of the study suggest that physiological aging does not only proceed at a perfectly even pace but instead seems to chart an uneven trajectory. Scientists discovered 3 distinct inflection points in the human life cycle. Those 3 points, occurring on average at ages 34, 60, and 78, stand out as separate times when the number of different blood-borne proteins that are exhibiting noticeable changes in abundance rises significantly.

The reason behind

this phenomenon is merely increasing or decreasing steadily or staying the same throughout life, the levels of many proteins remain constant for some time. Later, at one point or another, they undergo sudden upward or downward shifts. These shifts tend to escalate at three separate locations in a person’s life- young adulthood, late middle age, & old age.

The investigators developed their clock by looking at composite levels of proteins within groups of people rather than in individuals. The researchers obtained their samples from two extensive studies. One of the studies is known as the LonGenity study. It has assembled a registry of exceptionally long-lived Ashkenazi Jews. The LonGenity study was able to provide various blood samples- some of them as old as 95.

On measuring the levels of roughly 3,000 proteins in each individual’s plasma, researchers identified 1,379 proteins whose levels varied significantly with participants’ age.

Age Prediction With Blood Proteins

According to the study, a reduced set of 373 of those proteins was sufficient for predicting participants’ ages with high accuracy. Some of the individual’s age was estimated to be younger than they were. These were people with better hand-grip strength and cognitive function.

The study by Stanford researchers also strengthened the case that men and women age differently. The scientists processed an equal number of samples from men and women.

According to Wyss-Coray, any clinical applications of the technique are a would take approximately 5-10 years.

Rahul Mishra is a Science enthusiast and eager to learn something new each day. He has a degree in Microbiology and has joined forces with Biotecnika in 2019 due to his passion for writing and science.