Decoding Aging: Plasma Protein Models Link Organ Aging to Chronic Diseases

This study reveals that chronic diseases may represent accelerated aging of specific organs and systems, offering a novel perspective on aging and mortality. By analyzing plasma proteome data from over 50,000 individuals using elastic net regularization, researchers developed interpretable organ-specific and organism-wide aging models. These models predict disease risks and mortality while identifying proteins that connect organ aging to disease. Notably, men showed faster aging in most organs compared to women, and lifestyle factors such as diet, occupation, and medication significantly influenced organ aging rates. The findings suggest that chronic diseases are manifestations of system-specific aging, highlighting the potential for tailored interventions targeting organ and whole-organism aging processes to mitigate age-related diseases.