AIは個人のメタボロミック年齢を予測し、健康プランをそれに合わせてカスタマイズできるか？

Artificial intelligence continues to push the boundaries of science and health exploration. From mapping proteins to neurological networks, these systems continue to make game-changing impacts on the sector. This month, a group of advantageous researchers from the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience took AI integration further. They released a study¹ in which AI algorithms were used to predict the metabolic age of patients. Here’s what you need to know.

年代時計 vs 生物学的時計

To grasp the importance of this development, it’s vital to understand the differences between your chronological and biological age. These two methods of determining the age of your body are used in different ways by healthcare professionals. As such, it’s crucial to be able to determine both accurately when providing health care strategies.

年代時計

Your chronological age is your age based on the days of your life. Your chronological age can help healthcare professionals understand what to reasonably expect from your body in terms of health status, signs of aging, lifestyles, and more. It can also help professionals develop drugs tailored for certain age groups,  enabling more effective care. Notably, your chronological age cannot be changed.

生物学的時計

Your biological age represents the stage of your molecular and cellular damage. Unlike chronological aging, biological aging can be altered by changing lifestyles, environments, diets, and more. Your biological aging will be detectable in the level of performance and capabilities based on your chronological age expectations. The main goal of biological clocks is to track and demonstrate how your metabolism changes over time.

AI搭載メタボロミック年齢時計の研究

AI-powered biological aging clocks could revolutionize the sector. These algorithms can connect huge swatches of data to create in-depth maps that integrate advanced metabolite data. Notably, this study was the first to attempt to use AI to map and rate metabolites.

代謝物

Metabolites are markers found in the blood that appear after metabolism. They serve multiple roles and can indicate certain aspects of health. These molecules are a relatively unexplored method of determining a patient’s health status and expectations.

In this approach, engineers introduce statistical or machine-learning algorithms. These systems are specifically designed to locate relationships between chronological age and molecular data. The results are a more in-depth and individualized understanding of a person’s health age.

メタボロミック年齢 – MileAge

As part of the study, the engineers created a Metabolic Age ranking system. Each patient was given a MileAge based on the difference between metabolite-predicted and chronological age. The MileAge approach leverages a number of metabolic markers. Specifically, the engineers discovered that a select panel of metabolites explained more than half of the variance in chronological age.

Additionally, researchers found that those with higher MileAge were far more susceptible to risk and health factors. Their bodies were also weaker and couldn’t heal as fast. Notably, their cells showed shorter telomeres, which is another sign of decaying health and aging. The difference between metabolite-predicted age and chronological age is called the MileAge Delta.

出典 – Science.org

メタボロミック年齢研究テスト

To discover the optimal MileAge algorithms, engineers had to test many different machine learning algorithms. Notably, the team leveraged nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy to monitor cellular changes. They began by developing 17 machine learning algorithms based on data gathered from blood from over 225,000 UK Biobank participants.

Notably, the age of participants ranged from 40 – 69 years. The algorithms were programmed utilizing 168 plasma metabolites derived from UK Biobank data. It included middle-aged and older adults.

The next step was to compare the AI algorithms to see which ones were the most accurate. The team used nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy to acquire data from the blood banks to benchmark each model. The comparison yielded some interesting results.

メタボロミック年齢研究結果

The study demonstrated that AI algorithms are not all equal in terms of their ability to accurately predict MileAge. The engineers noticed that Cubist rule-based regression and linear algorithms worked the most effectively at determining aging signals.

The study revealed that 116 metabolites serve roles in this function, with GlycA, omega-3, and DHA having the highest correlation with age. These revelations demonstrated that more complex nonlinear AI systems were the best options.

メタボロミック年齢研究の利点

This metabolic age study brings several key benefits to the table. For one, it will allow people to track their health by empowering proactive behavior. It will also be a key tool used by professionals to determine the best care practices and strategies to implement based on individual patient needs.

代謝年齢を早期警告指標として活用する

Checking your MileAge could provide you with added confidence in your health. This system makes it easier to see early signs of declining health. As such, healthcare professionals can recommend more effective measures to combat disease. It will also play a major role in improving preventive measures by making it easy to see who is at high risk.

代謝年齢の活用事例

There are several immediate and distant use case scenarios for MileAge-based technologies. These options range from enabling people to monitor their health better, all the way to creating advanced care and treatment methods that integrate key metabolic markers.

健康評価

At the core of this technology will include the ability to create more useful and specific health assessments. Insurance companies and healthcare professionals will need to leverage this tech to improve and monitor their healthcare strategies currently. In the future, you may need to get a MileAge checkup prior to gaining coverage.

リスク層別化

Another key science that can benefit from MileAge integration is risk stratification. Research will leverage this data to find out what areas and people are at the highest risk of certain disorders and diseases. Determining the risk level of populations will help researchers locate and eliminate unnecessary risks presented to patients based on their location or habits.

積極的な健康トラッキング

The rise of wearables has introduced a new level of health trackability. Now, the metabolic age scale could help to improve personal health tracking even further. Imagine taking a test or even just clicking a button on your watch to find out the key areas you need to improve your health and bring you up to par with others in your area and age group.

代謝年齢研究者

The MileAge research was conducted by engineers from the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience. The study received funding from various backers, including the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) and Maudsley Biomedical Research Centre (BRC). Additionally, the UK Biobank played a vital role in providing access to data and samples.

メタボロミック年齢研究から恩恵を受けられる企業

There are several companies that could integrate this technology to improve their offerings and services. These firms work in the healthcare industry and already provide some form of service that utilizes a person’s health status as an indicator or metric when determining the products or offerings.

10x Genomics Inc

10x Genomics Inc (TXG ) は、遺伝子シーケンシング技術を専門とする先進的な科学研究企業です。同社は2012年にAvante Biosystems, Inc.として市場に参入し、後に10x Genomicsへとブランド変更しました。プロジェクトはSerge Saxonov、Ben Hindson、Kevin Nessによって設立され、生物学の理解を医療専門家向けに向上させることを目的としています。現在、同社は免疫学や神経科学にまたがる様々なサービスを提供しています。

2018年、10x Genomicsは技術と市場ポジションを強化するために複数の大規模買収を行いました。例えば、EpinomicsとSpatial Transcriptomicsを取得しました。これらの動きは提供サービスを向上させ、先進技術へのアクセスをもたらしました。

特に、TXGは投資家の注目を集め続ける人気株です。これまでに、The Scientist Top 10 Innovations賞を2017年から2021年まで受賞するなど多数の賞を受賞しています。また、世界の上位100の研究機関の一つと見なされ、世界の上位20の製薬研究企業の中でも常に上位にランク付けされています。

代謝年齢研究の将来

Now that engineers have determined that the MileAge marker provides more accurate results compared to previous methods, there’s sure to be additional peer review prior to integration. This method of tracking health will quickly catch on as more agencies realize the added accuracy and savings it provides.

代謝年齢 – 新たなレベルで健康を追跡する

The average person gains a lot from this study in regard to their future healthcare. For one, insurance companies, healthcare providers, and drug manufacturers will all be able to leverage their information to more accurately provide services to the population. As such, there is a strong demand for this data to receive priority in terms of integration. Regardless of the time frame it takes to institute, MileAge markers will soon become crucial in determining health care plans and more.

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研究参考文献:

^{1. Mutz, J., Iniesta, R., & Lewis, C. M. (2024). メタボロミック年齢（MileAge）は健康と寿命を予測する: 複数の機械学習アルゴリズムの比較. Science Advances, 10(51), eadp3743. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adp3743}