Blood Test Could Reveal Likelihood of Premature Death

Researchers have identified a biomarker – GlycA -which seems to predict premature death due to infections, even in seemingly healthy individuals. GlycA is a byproduct of inflammation, and high levels of it in the blood stream seem to indicate chronic inflammation, which indicates the presence of a low-level chronic infection, or an overactive immune response. Over time, this chronic inflamation causes damage which leaves individuals more susceptible to serious infections and complications. 

From NCBI: Recent studies of GlycA from cross-sectional, observational and interventional studies have been highly informative, demonstrating that GlycA is elevated in acute and chronic inflammation, predicts death in healthy individuals and is associated with disease severity in patients with chronic inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis and lupus. 

The study’s authors obtained data and health records from more than 10,000 individuals and found that increased GlycA increased the long-term risk of pneumonia and sepsis. The study was published in Cell Systems on October 22. 

“As biomedical researchers, we want to help people, and there are few more important things I can think of than identifying apparently health individuals who might actually be at increased risk of disease and death,” co-senior author Michael Inouye of the University of Melbourne said in an article on EurekAlert.