Shared and specific blood biomarkers for multimorbidity

What is it about?

Aging is accompanied by progressive accumulation of biological deficits, increasing susceptibility to developing multiple chronic diseases (i.e., multimorbidity). The biological underpinnings of multimorbidity remain poorly understood. In this study we analyzed 54 blood biomarkers reflecting inflammatory, vascular, metabolic and neurodegenerative processes of 2,247 individuals aged 60 yrs and over from the SNACK cohort, Sweden. We found that GDF 15, hemoglobin A1c, cystatin C, leptin and insulin were consistently and positively associated with all multimorbidity measures. These findings suggest that multiple biological processes contribute to multimorbidity through shared and distinct mechanisms and that metabolic disturbances emerged as a key driver of multimorbidity.

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Why is it important?

If confirmed, these processes could represent targets for interventions to mitigate disease accumulation.