A new study led by researchers at Oxford Population Health has found that demographics such as age and sex, as well as many aspects of our everyday lives, such as smoking, alcohol drinking, and even outdoor temperature, can affect the proteins circulating in our blood. Published in European Journal of Epidemiology, the research highlights potential new directions for understanding health and disease.
Proteins are the building blocks of the human body. They carry out essential functions and can serve as early warning signals of illness. Thanks to recent technological advances, scientists can now measure thousands of different proteins from just a small sample of blood. While it is well known that protein levels vary by sex and age, much less is known about the role played by a wider range of lifestyle and environmental factors.
In a joint study by researchers from Oxford Population Health and Peking University in China, blood levels of 2,923 proteins were measured using the Olink platform in 2,006 Chinese adults. The researchers discovered that nearly two-thirds of these proteins were associated with at least one of the 37 factors investigated (including lifestyle, environmental, reproductive factors, and clinical measurements). Many proteins were associated with multiple factors, including 25 that were associated with 10 or more exposures.
Dr Andri Iona, Senior Medical Statistician at Oxford Population Health and co-lead author of the study, said ‘We identified a group of important factors such as age, sex, outdoor temperature, BMI, blood pressure, and blood glucose levels, that were linked to more than 200 proteins.’
The team also developed two measures: one to capture how healthy a person’s lifestyle is, and another to indicate frailty. Both were strongly linked to more than 300 proteins. ‘This shows that the blood proteome can be a sensitive indicator of people’s overall health,’ said Dr Baihan Wang, Early Career Research Fellow at Oxford Population Health and co-lead author of the study.
Professor Derrick Bennett, senior author of the study, added ‘Our findings both confirm previous findings and reveal new associations. Proteins affected by multiple factors are especially relevant, as they may have important implications for general health and chronic disease.’
The researchers undertook separate analyses of the same 2,923 proteins in approximately 35,000 UK Biobank participants. Over 90% of associations with sex, age, body mass index, systolic blood pressure, and diabetes-related exposures were replicated.
Professor Zhengming Chen, Oxford Principal Investigator of the China Kadoorie Biobank and senior author of the study, said ‘This work highlights the power of proteomics to capture the complex interplay between biology, lifestyle, and environment. The next step would be to see if these findings hold true in other diverse populations, and to explore what they can teach us about preventing and treating disease.’