What is immune age and how does it differ from biological age

The history of the scientific study of immunity goes back hundreds of years, but until recently there was no clinical blood test, which has been used since the middle of the last century, only allows you to count the number of immune cells and is extremely inaccurate. - Approx. the author. such a measure by which it would be possible to measure its quantity.

However, in 2019, scientists from the Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa and Stanford University proposed a method for such a calculation, called immune age.

Lifehacker tells what it is and how new knowledge can be used in medicine.

How age and immunity are related

As we age, a person's immunity deteriorates: the body's ability to produce immune cells (for example, leukocytes) decreases, their number decreases. The number of particles that contribute to the development of inflammation, on the contrary, is growing. Moreover, it is inflammation that causes many diseases, including allergies, arthritis, pneumonia and cancer.

The effects of aging on the immune system can vary from person to person. Genetic characteristics and living conditions have a great influence on this process: climate, ecology, nutrition.

For example, a recent study by scientists in the UK found that the body's ability to respond to an immune response is largely dependent on the microRNA-142 molecule. This small patch of genetic code influences both innate and acquired susceptibility to disease and treatment.

Over time, these differences only intensify. This is why people of the same age can feel completely differently.

However, changes in the immune system take years, and experiments over several weeks or months fail to reveal significant differences. Therefore, to find out more, the Israeli-American medical team resorted to a study that, unlike previous similar experiments, lasted nine years.

What is immune age and how was it discovered

Having studied the condition of 135 healthy people of different ages, scientists have confirmed that over the years there are significant changes in the production of cells in the body. Experts recorded them using the latest high-precision equipment capable of detecting even minor fluctuations in the cellular composition of the blood.

Based on this data, scientists have compiled a multidimensional trajectory of immune aging, which, they say, reflects the body's ability to resist disease and how it changes over the years. In total, 33 markers (cell subgroups) were found in the blood, which make it possible to judge a person's health much more accurately than knowing his biological age and observing external signs.

To analyze the information received, physicians used machine learning algorithms. The results were then rechecked on a sample of more than 2,000 people.

The technique was named IMM ‑ AGE - “immune age”.

How Discovery of Immune Age May Benefit

The most well-known and generally accepted factors in the development of cardiovascular diseases and the risk of premature death were formulated during the Framingham Cardiology Study, which began in 1948:

High blood pressure.
Low high-density lipoprotein levels.
Hypertrophy (thickening of the walls) of the left ventricle of the heart, detected using an electrocardiogram.
Smoking and drinking alcohol.
Low physical activity.
Diabetes.
Obesity.
Stress.

According to the authors of the method for determining the immune age, IMM-AGE will significantly expand these criteria.

Knowing what changes in the composition of the blood indicate a weakening of the immune system will allow identifying patients at risk and predicting mortality from almost all ailments, and not just from cardiac diseases.

It can help in the fight against cancer, infectious and chronic diseases. And all this is only with the help of a general blood test.

So far, it is impossible to pass such a test at will - the technique requires further refinement. However, it opens up bright prospects: we will be able to undergo examinations and treatment on time. For example, if markers of risk of developing cancer are found in the patient's blood, the doctor will recommend that he be examined by an oncologist more often.

Also, the concept of immune age can help in the development of vaccines and drugs - more accurately predict the potential immune response to them, which can change with age.