Rate of aging determined in the womb

Scientists from the UK have found that key clues in your blood, called metabolites, can provide insight in to each person’s long-term overall health and their rate of aging in later life. These chemical clues are left behind as a result of early molecular changes before birth or in infancy.

The new study highlights how a technique called “metabolomic profiling” has revealed a collection of 22 metabolites linked to aging.

One of these metabolites, which linked to aging traits such as lung function and bone mineral density, is also strongly associated with birthweight. Birthweight is a well-known developmental determinant of healthy aging. As Professor Tim Spector, Head of the Department of Twin Research at King’s College London, explains: “Scientists have known for a long time that a person’s weight at the time of birth is an important determinant of health in middle and old age, and that people with low birthweight are more susceptible to age-related diseases.”

This new finding suggests that levels of this novel metabolite, which may be determined in the womb and affected by nutrition during development, could reflect accelerated aging in later adult life.

Scientists say the findings show it is possible that these markers of aging can be identified with simple blood tests in the future, which may provide further clues to the aging process and could pave the way for development of therapies to treat age-related conditions.

Ana Valdes, lead researcher from King’s College London, said: “Human aging is a process influenced by genetic, lifestyle and environmental factors, but genes only explain a part of the story. Molecular changes that influence how we age over time are triggered by epigenetic changes.”