Article Impact Level: HIGH Data Quality: STRONG Summary of Aging Cell https://doi.org/10.1111/acel.70437 Dr. María Moreno-Villanueva et al.
Points
- Researchers analyzed three hundred sixty-two biomarkers in thirty-three hundred European participants to develop a mathematical bioage score that reflects a person’s actual physiological aging process and long-term health.
- The study utilized machine learning to identify ten sex-specific biomarkers that accurately calculate an individual’s biological age relative to their chronological age to predict the risk of age-related illnesses.
- Data confirmed that women using hormone replacement therapy were biologically younger than their peers while smoking and genetic disorders like Down Syndrome significantly accelerated the biological aging process.
- Results revealed that biological age is linearly correlated with HDL and Vitamin D levels whereas common markers like glucose and HbA1c were found to be mere bystanders of chronological time.
- This comprehensive bioage score provides a new framework for individualized preventive medicine by helping clinicians track the aging process in healthy individuals and identify those needing early lifestyle interventions.
Summary
Evaluated the efficacy of a sex-specific “bioage score” developed by the international MARK-AGE consortium to determine biological age. Analyzing a European cohort of 3,300 participants aged 35–74, researchers initially recorded 362 clinical-chemistry, genetic, and cellular biomarkers per subject. The study sought to move beyond chronological age by identifying a multidimensional set of indicators that reflect actual physiological aging, accounting for the complex, multi-organ nature of senescence that a single biomarker cannot reliably capture.
Using statistical modeling and machine learning, the team isolated 10 key biomarkers for each sex to calculate an individual’s biological age. The resulting “age difference”—the variance between biological and chronological age—validated the model by identifying accelerated aging in specific cohorts. For instance, the score confirmed that subjects with Down Syndrome and smoking females were biologically older, while postmenopausal women utilizing hormone replacement therapy were biologically younger. These findings suggest that lifestyle and genetic factors significantly decouple physical decline from the simple passage of time.
The data further revealed a critical dichotomy between drivers and bystanders of aging. While values like glucose and HbA1c correlated strictly with chronological age, the “age difference” was linearly correlated with HDL, 25-hydroxy-Vitamin D, and the CD3+CD4+/CD45+ T helper cell ratio. Biologically younger subjects consistently displayed favorable levels of these specific markers, regardless of their birth year. These results provide a robust framework for individualized preventive medicine, allowing clinicians to identify healthy individuals at higher risk for age-related impairments and target interventions based on physiological rather than chronological milestones.
Link to the article: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/acel.70437
References
Moreno‐Villanueva, M., Junk, M., Mosieniak, G., Sikora, E., Capri, M., Garagnani, P., Pirazzini, C., Breusing, N., Bernhardt, J., Schön, C., Blasco, M., Zondag, G., Debacq‐Chainiaux, F., Grubeck‐Loebenstein, B., Weinberger, B., Fiegl, S., Mocchegiani, E., Malavolta, M., Giacconi, R., … Bürkle, A. (2026). Biologically younger individuals, as identified by mark ‐ age biological age scores, display a distinct favourable blood chemistry profile regardless of age. Aging Cell, 25(3), e70437. https://doi.org/10.1111/acel.70437
