Blood protein patterns can indicate accelerated biological aging and flag higher risks of death and chronic disease years before diagnosis, according to a major European study published in Nature Aging on June 30.
The research examined associations between proteomic analysis-derived biological aging, lifestyle factors, and the incidence of chronic diseases. Researchers found that each additional year in the global age gap measured by proteomic clocks was associated with a 13% higher risk of all-cause mortality. The predictive performance for mortality outcomes was comparable to established risk factors.
Proteomic clocks estimate biological age through protein profiling, potentially identifying individuals at increased risk for chronic diseases based on their biological age. By analyzing body protein levels, these clocks may also reveal molecular pathways linking age-related changes with chronic illnesses, supporting future precision medicine approaches.
In this study, researchers used the SomaScan proteomic platform to estimate proteomic age in 17,473 participants from five European countries aged 35 to 75 years. They averaged estimates from five conventional proteomic clocks (Tanaka, Lehallier, Wang, Oh, and Sathyan) to create a global clock. Associations between biological age and lifestyle factors such as physical inactivity, alcohol intake, smoking status—and incident cases of chronic diseases—were evaluated over up to 28 years using Cox regression models adjusted for body mass index (BMI), healthy diet score, physical activity level, educational attainment, and more.
Acceleration in biological aging correlated with lifestyle factors like physical inactivity and substance use but not with BMI or diet quality; associations varied across individual clocks. Advanced biological age relative to chronological age was linked with increased risks for cardiovascular disease; dementia; cancers affecting oral cavity/pharynx/larynx/esophagus/liver/lungs/kidneys; stomach/kidney/lung cancers showed robust organ-specific associations. The global clock yielded hazard ratios ranging from 1.2 (dementia) up to 1.6 (liver cancer). Sensitivity analyses confirmed robustness except some attenuation for kidney/lung cancer results.
Researchers said that combining findings from the global proteomic clock with established risk factors improved mortality prediction compared with using risk factors alone: "The Global Proteomic Aging Clock predicted mortality from any cause as accurately as conventional risk factors." As an observational study, these findings do not establish causality but highlight potential clinical utility if validated further—including among diverse populations.
