Closeup of doctor viewing brain scan images

The human brain is known to shrink and lose some function with age. Gender and chronic inflammation may also be linked to these changes, a new study finds.

In more than 500 adults, brain scans and blood immune samples taken over a decade revealed concentrations of inflammatory proteins that increase with age. The correlation of protein-related patterns with aging was so clear that the investigators were able to use them to precisely predict a person’s chronological age. 

This measure of aging is called CyClo or a cytokine clock, and gender plays a part in it, the researchers reported. Notably, females have a faster ticking cytokine clock, although they are more protected from brain shrinkage overall, they found.

Chronic inflammation

In addition, some of the most impactful immune proteins that appeared in the study are associated with chronic inflammation, they said. Chronic inflammation in the body has been shown to contribute to a number of health woes, including heart disease, diabetes, cancer and arthritis.

Inflammation may be a standalone contributor to brain atrophy, the investigators concluded. 

“Basically, if we remove the causality of time and someone has high inflammation they are on track to have a smaller brain in certain areas,” David Furman, PhD, of Buck Institute for Research on Aging in Novato, CA, said. 

These proteins may serve as inflammatory biomarkers of brain aging, Furman added. “We have potential targets for both early diagnostics and the prevention of age-related neurodegeneration.”

The study was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

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