Cardiometabolic Risks Found in Kids as Young as 8
UTHealth Houston researchers have identified six protein signatures in children as young as eight that predict the risk of developing cardiovascular-kidney-metabolic disease in adulthood. These markers were validated using data from the UK Biobank and could facilitate earlier medical interventions.
Why it matters
Identifying early biomarkers for chronic metabolic diseases could shift medical focus toward preventative care, potentially reducing the long-term burden of these conditions.
Risk factors for cardiovascular-kidney-metabolic disease, a health condition made up of heart disease, kidney disease, diabetes, and obesity, can be identified in children as young as 8, UTHealth Houston researchers discovered.
Using a group of 273 children who participate in the Border Health Research Cohort within the Border Health Research Center at UTHealth Houston School of Public Health in Brownsville, researchers analyzed 5,000 proteins and identified six "signatures" of proteins that significantly influence the risk of developing cardiovascular-kidney-metabolic disease in adulthood. The same protein signature was present in 685 adults from the same community who were at high risk of irreversible cardiovascular-kidney-metabolic disease, according to the team.
The research was published today in Nature Metabolism and led by first author Heather Highland, PhD , assistant professor of epidemiology at the School of Public Health.
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