Blood protein patterns changed years before heart failure
More than 1,200 blood proteins were linked to future heart failure about 18 years before diagnosis, rising to about 3,600 closer to diagnosis.
Our read
Mechanisms- Studied:
- Cohort study of 6,264 individuals in the HUNT population, nearly three decades
- What changed:
- Over 1,200 proteins were associated with future heart failure ~18 years before diagnosis, rising to ~3,600 closer to diagnosis
- The catch:
- Protein patterns could reflect heart disease already developing rather than contributors to its development
- Why it’s aging research:
- It bears on staying healthy in midlife and later life.
Editor of record: Boris Djordjevic · AgingResearch.News
In 6,264 people in the HUNT population cohort, an observational study tracked blood protein patterns from a mean age of 55, with nearly three decades of follow-up. Researchers analyzed about 17,000 plasma samples using a test covering about 11,000 proteins and linked the results to medical records.
Among people who later developed heart failure, sampling preceded diagnosis by about 18, eight and four years on average. Protein associations with future heart failure strengthened as diagnosis approached. Early patterns involved stress in systems that maintain proteins and complement, part of immune defense. Later patterns increasingly involved inflammatory signaling, blood clotting and remodeling of the material surrounding cells. Genetic evidence was more common among proteins that changed consistently over time.
Why it matters
Heart failure develops over many years. Tracking proteins over time may help identify potential drug targets linked to long-standing risk or to biological changes that emerge later in life.
Caveats
The observational protein patterns could reflect heart disease already developing rather than contributors to its development. The findings were reported in a conference abstract.
The paper
BioAge Labs
AHA Scientific Sessions 2026 Abstract, Nov 2, 2026
Presented at AHA Scientific Sessions 2026, abstract 10998
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