It is reasonable to assume that a combination of several biomarkers could provide a much better tool to measure biological age than any single biomarker in isolation. It has to be taken into account, though, that not all biomarkers are of equal weight. Therefore averaging all possible candidate biomarkers is not appropriate. The major task of this project is, therefore, to optimise the weighting of different markers, by using multi-variate analysis, and derive a mathematical formula that will yield an “age score”.
In order to reach this goal, a comprehensive range of candidate biomarkers shall be tested in a large study population covering the age range of 35-75 years, as this is the time span during which prophylaxis / intervention may be possible and promising.
New recruitment of probands for this study is mandatory, as previous recruitment efforts performed in many European countries neither have covered the same age range nor have they provided the biological materials to be studied, including cryopreserved blood cells.
Study outline:
3,700 subjects in total; Men : women = 1:1
Recruting of subjects from 7 places in Europe: Athens, Bologna, Doetinchem, Esslingen, Namur, Tampere, Warsaw
Age classes: 35-39, 40-44, etc., 70-74.
From all subjects enrolled, anthropometic, clinical and social data will be collected in a standardised fashion. A physical examination for all probands will comprise measurement of “classical” candidate biomarkers as well as age-dependent new marker candidate e.g. Cellular poly(ADP-ribosyl)ation capacity, oxidative DNA damage in mitochondrial DNA, DNA methylation status, telomere length mesurements, changes in mitochondrial DNA in blood cells, vitamin levels in mucosal cells, Zn, Cu, Se and Fe in plasma and PBMC, metallothionein expression, mesurement of oxidative stress markers, etc.
BioTeSys GmbH collaborates within this EU-project with the most experienced and repute scientists on the field of aging in Europe. The objektive corresponds well with BioTeSys field of activity. The examination and evaluation of the effects of biological active ingredients is the core competence, that means the identification of functional characters of the ingredient or of a mixture of ingredients as well as the examination of its effect and effectiveness. As entire service provider in the field of biological and chemical analysis the company offers a wide range of services, including the development of new proceedings and products on basis of customer orders. The service covers screening-proceedings for recordal of bioactive potential of substances or substance mixtures by help of HPLC or photometry (accredited due to DIN/EN ISO EIC 17025), in vitro-test proceedings by utilization of single cell cultures, co-cultures and organotypic models as well as planning und realization of clinical studies.
The expected results out of the comprehensive collaboration all over Europe will help BioTeSys to complement existing knowledge on affiliate biochemical network of human metabolism and will help to offer in future new solutions for their customers.