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AHA Scientific Sessions 2026 Abstract

Protein-based age measures differ by heart failure type

A retrospective comparison of 269 people with one heart failure form, 275 with another and 186 controls found different protein-based aging patterns.

Paper by Jessica Regan, Maggie Nguyen, Lorenzo Pesce, +9 more authorsSvati H Shah · Duke Univ

Our read

Biomarkers
Studied:
Cohort study of people with heart failure and controls, 10 years, against HFpEF
What changed:
Heart biological age gaps were higher in heart failure with reduced ejection fraction than with preserved ejection fraction
The catch:
Heart failure may alter protein profiles instead of aging profiles preceding the disease
Why it’s aging research:
It builds or tests a tool for aging research.

Editor of record: Boris Djordjevic · AgingResearch.News

Paper
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People with heart failure—269 with reduced ejection fraction and 275 with preserved ejection fraction—were compared with 186 people without heart failure in a retrospective observational analysis. Ejection fraction is the share of blood the heart pumps out with each beat. Researchers used proteins to estimate biological age for the body and 11 organ-related systems. Age gaps reflected whether estimates were higher or lower than expected for chronological age.

Age gaps were greatest in reduced-ejection-fraction heart failure and intermediate in preserved-ejection-fraction disease. The heart-related measure showed the most consistent association with heart failure. Over 10 years, 321 heart failure hospitalization events occurred. Larger heart, kidney and pancreas age gaps were linked to hospitalization.

Why it matters

The authors suggest organ-related aging patterns may help explain why heart failure takes different forms and point to future biological targets for prevention.

Caveats

Heart failure itself may have changed protein profiles, rather than those profiles reflecting aging that preceded disease. These conference-abstract findings came from a high-risk group undergoing cardiac catheterization and may not apply to people at lower cardiovascular risk.

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