Accelerated aging and inflammation link to highest risk of death
In an observational study of 3,113 people, a 92-protein biological clock paired with chronic inflammation was associated with the highest risk of multiple illnesses and death.
Edited by Boris Djordjevic · AgingResearch.News
Researchers analyzed 610 proteins in blood plasma from 3,113 human participants in the MyoVasc observational cohort. They grouped the proteins into four trajectories that changed with age. One group was rich in proteins inferred to come from immune cells and platelets, cell fragments that help blood clot. Other groups reflected blood clotting, fat metabolism, and the structural meshwork outside cells. Aging trajectories differed between sexes for proteins linked to immunity and fat metabolism. Statistical models associated major cardiovascular risk factors with changes in platelet and immune signaling that blunted its normal decline and favored clotting.
The researchers also built a 92-protein biological aging clock using data from 172 healthy participants. Faster biological aging estimated by this clock combined with elevated C-reactive protein, a marker of inflammation, was associated with the highest risk of death from any cause and of having multiple existing illnesses.
Why it matters
Chronic inflammation and molecular changes accompany aging and contribute to multiple cardiovascular conditions. Tracking these molecular changes alongside biological age clocks could help researchers classify age-related health risks.
Caveats
The findings come from an observational study, which can identify links between protein patterns and health outcomes but cannot establish that these changes cause disease. The work was reported in a conference abstract.
The paper
Center for Thrombosis and Hemostasis
ESC Congress 2026 Abstract, Oct 26, 2026
Presented at ESC Congress 2026
