Blood protein scores link childhood traits to adult disease
Scores developed in 273 children and adolescents were associated with later disease when applied to blood protein measurements from 28,256 UK Biobank adults.
Limit: Pubertal stage affects protein levels but was not adequately controlled in the childhood models
Stake: Authors hold shares in Thryv Therapeutics.
Edited by Boris Djordjevic · AgingResearch.News
In an observational study, researchers analyzed blood proteins in 273 Hispanic or Latino children and adolescents. Their average age was 13.1 years, and 53% were female. More than a third had obesity. The team linked protein levels to 25 measures of heart, kidney and metabolic health and built scores combining multiple proteins.
The researchers applied the scores to protein measurements from separate adult groups. In 28,256 UK Biobank adults, several scores were associated with higher risks of type 2 diabetes, heart and blood vessel diseases, and death. Median follow-up for deaths was 13.7 years.
Why it matters
Heart, kidney and metabolic disease can have roots before age 20. The authors argue for prevention tailored to early risk, long before clinical disease appears.
Caveats
The childhood analyses were cross-sectional and limited to Hispanic or Latino participants; adult outcomes came from separate people, not follow-up of these children. These associations do not show that the proteins cause disease or that screening would improve health.
From the paper
- Participants
Our analytic sample in the UK Biobank included 28,256 unique participants that had complete proteomics data for at least 1 of the scores generated in BHRC paediatric participants.
Methods, Paediatric proteomic signatures of CKMD and long-term adult CKMD outcomes
- Follow-up
Next, we estimated associations between these paediatric CKMD signatures and incident clinical CKMD in adults in the UK Biobank (characteristics in Extended Data Table; median follow-up 13.7 years, 25th–75th percentile 13.0–14.5 years for mortality).
Results, Paediatric CKMD proteomic signatures identify adults with susceptibility to clinical CKMD
Quoted word for word from the full text on PubMed Central.
The paper
Vanderbilt University; Vanderbilt University Medical Center
Nature Metabolism, Sep 11, 2026, Open access
