What is immune age and how does it differ from biological age?
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The history of scientific study of immunity goes back hundreds of years, but until recently there was no such measure with which it could be measured.
However, in 2019, scientists from the Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa and Stanford University proposed a method for such a calculation, called immune age.
As a person ages, his immunity deteriorates: the body's ability to produce immune cells (for example, leukocytes) decreases, and their number decreases. On the contrary, the number of particles that contribute to the development of inflammation increases. At the same time, it is inflammation that causes many diseases, including allergies, arthritis, pneumonia, and cancer.
The impact of aging on the immune system varies from person to person. Genetic characteristics and living conditions: climate, ecology, nutrition have a great influence on this process.
For example, one of the recent studies by scientists from the UK found that the body's ability to respond to the immune system largely depends on the molecule microRNA-142. This small section of the genetic code affects both innate and acquired susceptibility to diseases and treatment.
Over time, these differences only increase. That is why people of the same age can feel completely different.
However, changes in the immune system take years, and experiments that take place over a few weeks or months do not allow us to detect significant differences. Therefore, to learn more, an Israeli-American team of doctors resorted to a study that, unlike previous similar experiments, lasted nine years.
What is immune age and how was it discovered
Having studied the condition of 135 healthy people of different ages, scientists confirmed that over the years significant changes occur in the production of cells in the body. Specialists recorded them using the latest high-precision equipment capable of detecting even minor fluctuations in the cellular composition of the blood.
Based on this data, scientists have compiled a multidimensional trajectory of immune aging, which, according to them, reflects the body's ability to resist disease and how it changes over the years. A total of 33 markers (cell subgroups) in the blood were identified, which allow us to judge a person's health much more accurately than knowing their biological age and observing external signs.
To analyze the information received, doctors used machine learning algorithms. Then the results were checked again on a sample of more than 2,000 people.
The methodology was called IMM-AGE – “immune age”.
What can be useful about the discovery of immune age
The most well-known and generally accepted factors for the development of cardiovascular diseases and the risk of premature death were formulated during the Framingham Cardiology Study, which began in 1948:
- High blood pressure.
- Low level of high-density lipoproteins.
- Hypertrophy (thickening of the walls) of the left ventricle of the heart, detected by electrocardiograms.
- Smoking and alcohol consumption.
- Low physical activity.
- Diabetes.
- Obesity.
- Stress.
According to the authors of the IMM‑AGE immune age determination method, these criteria will be significantly expanded.
Knowing which changes in the blood composition indicate a weakening of the immune system will allow us to identify patients at risk and predict mortality from almost all diseases, not just cardiological ones.
This can help in the fight against cancer, infectious and chronic diseases. And all this with the help of a general blood test.
So far, it is not possible to take such a test at will – the method requires further development. However, it opens up brilliant prospects: we will be able to undergo examination and treatment in a timely manner. For example, if a patient's blood contains markers of cancer risk, the doctor will recommend that he or she be examined by an oncologist more often.
The concept of immune age can also help in the development of vaccines and drugs – to more accurately predict the potential immune response to them, which can change with age.
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