Blood protein linked to disease and death risk in UK adults
A prospective observational study of 53,003 UK Biobank participants linked higher levels to liver cancer, diabetes and death, with associations persisting over long follow-up.
Our read
Biomarkers- Studied:
- Cohort study of 53,003 UK Biobank participants
- The catch:
- Participants were UK adults, limiting applicability to populations in other countries
- In the record:
- One of 4 papers on IGFBP-7 on record: 1 with results in people, 1 in animals.
- Why it’s aging research:
- It measures an outcome that worsens with age.
Editor of record: Boris Djordjevic · AgingResearch.News
In a prospective observational study, researchers followed 53,003 UK Biobank participants, averaging 56.8 years old; 46% were male. They measured insulin-like growth factor binding protein 7 (IGFBP-7) in blood collected in 2007–2010 and tracked diseases and deaths through 2022.
Higher levels were linked to liver cancer, type 2 diabetes and death from any cause after accounting for health and lifestyle factors. For death, the hazard ratio—a measure of relative risk over time—was 1.30 per standard-deviation increase, a step based on how widely protein levels varied. Links with several outcomes persisted after accounting for 20 other aging-related proteins. Associations with liver cancer, diabetes and death also persisted across age and sex groups and for events at least 10 years later.
Why it matters
Aging-related blood proteins offer a way to investigate differences in health as people age. This research addresses whether a marker carries information about future disease and mortality beyond other age-related proteins.
Caveats
This observational study cannot establish that the protein caused disease or death. Participants were UK adults recruited at ages 39–70, so the results do not establish the same associations outside that recruitment age range.
The paper
Harvard University
npj Aging, May 9, 2026, Open access
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