血液中存在与衰老有关的代谢分子

英国一群科学家研究发现一个革命性的成果：通过验血，可以判定一个人能活多长，以及衰老的速度是多快。该科研团队发现了人体血液中的一种化学 “指纹”，可以借此判断一个人的健康状况以及衰老速度。 相关研究报告9日发表在 《国际流行病学杂志》上。据报道，研究人员鉴定出血液中含有的22种代谢分子与人体衰老速度、以及老年可能患上的疾病有关。在这22种代谢分子中，有一种被命名为C-glyTrp的分子，与一个人的肺功能、骨密度、血压和胆固醇水平等有密切的关系。他们认为，C-glyTrp代谢分子的等级，将决定一个人长大后衰老的速度。 此外，该代谢分子还认为与婴儿出生时的体重有关。婴儿出生时的体重此前就被认为是一个人能否健康衰老的重要因素。这一研究成果或许能够让医生对新生儿采取相应的措施，避免其在老年时患上相应的病症。此外，基于这一发现，针对骨骼问题、心脏疾病等与衰老有关的疾病也可能研发出新的治疗药物或手段。 科研团队负责人、伦敦大学国王学院教授蒂姆·斯佩克特介绍说：“科学家很早前就已经发现，一个人出生时的体重是中年及晚年健康状况的重要参照，通常来说，出生时体重较轻的人，老年时更容易患上与衰老有关的疾病。 ” “此前，出生体重与老年健康状况之间的关系，一直没有很清晰的分子机制予以解释，不过我们的最新发现表明，至少有一个代谢分子能够证实两者之间的关系。 ” 据报道，斯佩克特的科研团队对超过6000对双胞胎提供的血液样本进行了化验分析，由此发现22种直接与衰老有关的代谢分子。同卵双胞胎拥有相同的基因，但双胞胎之间的出生体重往往不同，科研人员认为，这表明C-glyTrp代谢分子的等级会因为胎儿在子宫内吸收的养分不同等情况发生改变。 科研团队成员安娜·巴尔德斯介绍说：“人类衰老过程由基因、生活习惯、环境等因素控制。我们的研究首次发现，通过对血液的化验，能够确定与衰老速度有关的代谢分子。通过进一步了解这些代谢分子，我们就能研发出抗衰老的药物和疗法。而这个发现的意义在于，这些代谢分子都是在血液中可检测到的，因此我们可以通过简单的验血，了解到自己究竟能够活多久。 ” Metabolomic markers reveal novel pathways of ageing and early development in human populations Abstract Background Human ageing is a complex, multifactorial process and early developmental factors affect health outcomes in old age. Methods Metabolomic profiling on fasting blood was carried out in 6055 individuals from the UK. Stepwise regression was performed to identify a panel of independent metabolites which could be used as a surrogate for age. We also investigated the association with birthweight overall and within identical discordant twins and with genome-wide methylation levels. Results We identified a panel of 22 metabolites which combined are strongly correlated with age (R2 = 59%) and with age-related clinical traits independently of age. One particular metabolite, C-glycosyl tryptophan (C-glyTrp), correlated strongly with age (beta = 0.03, SE = 0.001, P = 7.0 × 10−157) and lung function (FEV1 beta = −0.04, SE = 0.008, P = 1.8 × 10−8 adjusted for age and confounders) and was replicated in an independent population (n = 887). C-glyTrp was also associated with bone mineral density (beta = −0.01, SE = 0.002, P = 1.9 × 10−6) and birthweight (beta = −0.06, SE = 0.01, P = 2.5 × 10−9). The difference in C-glyTrp levels explained 9.4% of the variance in the difference in birthweight between monozygotic twins. An epigenome-wide association study in 172 individuals identified three CpG-sites, associated with levels of C-glyTrp (P < 2 × 10−6). We replicated one CpG site in the promoter of the WDR85 gene in an independent sample of 350 individuals (beta = −0.20, SE = 0.04, P = 2.9 × 10−8). WDR85 is a regulator of translation elongation factor 2, essential for protein synthesis in eukaryotes. Conclusions Our data illustrate how metabolomic profiling linked with epigenetic studies can identify some key molecular mechanisms potentially determined in early development that produce long-term physiological changes influencing human health and ageing.