Two blood proteins may flag future disability in very old adults
Higher levels of two blood proteins, beta-2-microglobulin and cystatin C, were linked to disability, with hazard ratios—relative-risk measures—of 1.35 and 1.42, respectively.
Limit: The abstract omits the protein-level increments underlying the disability risk estimates
Edited by Boris Djordjevic · AgingResearch.News
In 230 disability-free, community-dwelling Japanese adults aged 85–89, researchers analyzed blood proteins in a prospective observational cohort study. Women made up 50.4% of the sample. The team measured 29 proteins and followed participants for 4.5 years.
Higher levels of the blood proteins beta-2-microglobulin and cystatin C were associated with developing disability. The researchers broadly replicated these links in the full Kawasaki Aging Well-being Project cohort and in participants aged 80 or older in the Invecchiare in Chianti cohort, which had 15 years of follow-up. In the discovery sample, they also found links between other proteins and mortality, but those findings did not replicate.
Why it matters
Biomarkers of future disability remain uncertain in very old adults. The authors suggested that identifying people at higher risk could help guide preventive interventions.
Caveats
This observational study cannot show that the proteins caused disability. The discovery sample covered disability-free adults aged 85–89, and the abstract does not specify the protein-level increments used for the risk estimates.
