Vanderbilt researchers identify childhood protein signatures for disease prediction

Researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center have identified protein signatures in childhood that may predict the future risk of developing cardiovascular, renal, and metabolic (CKMD) diseases.

A study published in Nature Medicine, led by Joshua Landman, PhD, analyzed over 5,000 proteins in the blood of 273 children and adolescents. The team correlated these levels with 25 clinical and imaging traits, including body composition, renal function, hypertension, and insulin resistance.

The findings suggest that the molecular profile of CKMD can be identified early in life. The study found that 1,064 proteins were associated with at least one CKMD phenotype. These proteomic signatures showed strong associations with clinical outcomes in both the original community cohort and a larger group of 28,256 adults from the UK Biobank.