How the immune system ages
UNN has learned to determine the rate of aging of the body by the state of immunity
Lobachevsky University Blog, Naked Science
During the study, 38 markers of inflammation of the body were selected. With the help of a mathematical model based on their level in the blood, accelerated aging can be diagnosed in pathologies affecting the immune system. This is the first Russian study of aging and age-dependent diseases based on local immunological and epigenetic data. The medical part of the study, the collection of the biobank, the analysis and processing of information took place on the basis of the UNN.
There were two groups of participants in the experiments. A control group of healthy people and a group of patients on hemodialysis. In cases where the volunteers did not have pronounced diseases, the model gave an estimate of the age close to the calendar. And for patients suffering from chronic renal failure, it showed a strongly accelerated aging of the immune system: by 20 years and above.
"Our model is the most sensitive to changes in the immune system that exists today. It is interesting to see what the immunological age will be in other pathologies. Here we see a wide space for future research. We are actively working with our partners, we see great interest, and have already started joint testing of the model on the basis of several Russian medical centers," said Mikhail Ivanchenko, one of the authors of the study, Vice–Rector for Scientific Work at UNN.
"Among the most significant inflammatory markers included in our model are proteins that are involved in the development of cardiovascular pathologies, in neurodegenerative processes, in the suppression of anticancer immunity, in the development of cataracts and Alzheimer's disease. Until now, their role in inflammatory processes has been unknown. In addition, the results obtained allow for a much deeper understanding of the mechanisms that work in the body in the late stages of chronic renal failure," notes Maria Vedunova, another author of the study, director of the Institute of Biology and Biomedicine of the National National University.
The development of immunological clocks is part of a joint project of Nizhny Novgorod scientists and Claudio Franceschi, a professor at the University of Bologna, one of the leading modern gerontologists. The scientist develops the concept of inflammatory aging (inflammaging). With this approach, the main factors of aging are considered age-related changes in the immune system, the processes of chronic inflammation, which provoke accelerated aging and age-related diseases.
According to Claudio Franceschi, the immunological clock can be effectively used in the study of a variety of diseases associated with changes in the immune system. They are very sensitive to changes in the composition of immunological markers. This suggests that such models can become a powerful tool for early diagnosis of the development of pathologies and find wide application in personalized preventive medicine.
Article by Yusipov et al. Accelerated epigenetic aging and inflammatory/immunological profile (iPage) in patients with chronic kidney disease is published in the journal GeroScience.
Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru