Men and women universally experience a decrease in sex hormones with age. Given this knowledge, researchers previously conducted a study to assess the correlation between aging, estrogen levels and the release of glycans (carbohydrate-based polymers) among all proteins in the body. Glycans are also important components of immunoglobulin G (IgG). IgGs are serum antibodies which provide immune protection against bodily infections and mediate systemic inflammation. Each IgG molecule usually includes about 3% glycans. However, changes in the composition of glycans attached to IgGs can significantly influence antibody activity. A decrease in galactosylation has been correlated with the onset of disease and aging.

“The decrease in IgG galactosylation was first reported over 35 years ago in patients with rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis [4].”

The researchers found that estrogen regulates glycosylation. However, the data they analyzed did not differentiate IgG glycosylation from the other proteins. The Glycan Age Index (a combination of three IgG glycans that appear to be both biomarkers and effectors of aging) can be used to calculate glycan age. Glycan age is associated with lifestyle and disease-risk biomarkers, and could potentially be used to monitor healthy or unhealthy aging.

“Here arises probably the most exciting aspect of the relationship between aging and IgG glycosylation: the potential of IgG glycans to distinguish between healthy and unhealthy aging, and to monitor the effect of introduced life-style changes on biological age.”

To identify changes in IgG glycans, researchers—from Genos Glycoscience Research Laboratory, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Eastern Colorado VA Geriatric Research, University of Zagreb, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and Boston Children’s Hospital—reanalyzed samples from the previous intervention study using state-of-the-art glycoprofiling technology. The focus of this study was to evaluate the effects of estrogen suppression, followed by estradiol supplementation, on biological age measured by the glycan age. Their paper was published in Aging (Aging-US) Volume 12, Issue 19, in 2020, and entitled, “Effects of estradiol on biological age measured using the glycan age index”.

Full blog - https://www.impactjournals.com/journals/blog/aging/can-hormone-therapy-improve-aging/

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DOI - https://doi.org/10.18632/aging.104060

Full text - https://www.aging-us.com/article/104060/text

Correspondence to: Gordan Lauc email: [email protected]

Keywords: biological age, glycan age, estrogen, aging biomarkers, glycosylation

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Launched in 2009, Aging-US publishes papers of general interest and biological significance in all fields of aging research and age-related diseases, including cancer—and now, with a special focus on COVID-19 vulnerability as an age-dependent syndrome. Topics in Aging-US go beyond traditional gerontology, including, but not limited to, cellular and molecular biology, human age-related diseases, pathology in model organisms, signal transduction pathways (e.g., p53, sirtuins, and PI-3K/AKT/mTOR, among others), and approaches to modulating these signaling pathways.

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