Scientists link blood protein profile to risk of age-related diseases — Live Science

Scientists have identified a protein profile in the blood that is associated with poorer health outcomes during aging. As Live Science reports, it concerns the ratio of memory immune cells that produce granzymes K and B — proteins capable of destroying infected cells.

Ratio of immune cells

In young people, the immune system contains many naive T cells, a type of white blood cell. After contact with pathogens and vaccination, some of them transform into memory cells that can respond quickly to infectious agents. Such cells produce various granzymes, including granzyme K and granzyme B.

Researchers analyzed immune cells from more than 2,600 people aged 18 to 97. Participants with a lower ratio of cells producing granzyme K to cells producing granzyme B were more likely to have autoimmune or other chronic immune diseases.

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UK Biobank data

In a separate analysis of immune cell samples and blood proteins from 329 people, scientists identified a protein profile associated with a greater number of cells producing granzyme B. They then searched for this profile in data from about 48,000 UK Biobank participants.

People whose blood protein indicators predicted a higher level of cells with granzyme B had poorer health outcomes over the following 17 years. They had a higher risk of death, diabetes, high blood pressure, as well as liver and kidney diseases.

The study author, Washington University in St. Louis immunologist Maxim Artyomov, emphasized that the identified association does not prove causality. According to him, a greater number of cells with granzyme B may be a consequence of diseases rather than their cause. The researchers also noted that additional data on different population groups are needed to determine whether this indicator is universal.