A new molecular test could show how well a person is ageing, it is revealed today.
Scientists hope that the novel approach could change the way that ageing is examined in medical research because it will assess a person’s biological age rather than their chronological age.
This could help identify risk of dementia, researchers say.
They also hope that the findings, published in Genome Biology after a seven-year collaborative study at King’s College London, Karolinska Institutet in Sweden and Duke University in the USA, could improve the management of age-related disease.
The research team used RNA-profiling to measure and compare gene expression in thousands of human tissue samples.
Discovering that the activation of 150 genes in the blood, brain and muscle tissue were a hallmark of good health at 65 years of age, they were able to create a reproducible formula for healthy ageing.
The researchers found a low score correlated with cognitive decline, which suggested that the molecular test could translate into a simple blood test to predict those most at risk of Alzheimer’s disease or other dementias.
A person’s score could not be used to compare with lifestyle-associated conditions, such as heart disease and diabetes.
The researchers say their findings provide the first practical and accurate test for the rate at which individual bodies are ageing.
Lead author of the study, Professor James Timmons at the Division of Genetics and Molecular Medicine at King’s College London, said: “Given the biological complexity of the ageing process, until now there has been no reliable way to measure how well a person is ageing compared with their peers.
“Physical capacity such as strength or onset of disease is often used to assess ‘healthy ageing’ in the elderly but in contrast, we can now measure ageing before symptoms of decline or illness occur.
“We now need to find out more about why these vast differences in ageing occur, with the hope that the test could be used to reduce the risk of developing diseases associated with age.”
Dr Neha Issar-Brown, programme manager for population health sciences at the MRC added: “Whilst it is natural for our bodies and brains to slow down as we age, premature ageing and the more severe loss of physical and cognitive function can have devastating consequences for the individual and their families, as well as impact more widely upon society and the economy.
“This new test holds great potential as with further research, it may help improve the development and evaluation of treatments that prolong good health in older age.”
Timmons J et al. A novel multi-tissue RNA diagnostic of healthy ageing relates to cognitive health status. Genome Biology. September 2015.
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