Glycans and Autoimmune Disease
Can glycans play a role in predicting autoimmune diseases in their early stage of development?
By Jenna MacciochiScience Behind
“Glycans are directly involved in the pathophysiology of every major disease… Additional knowledge from glycoscience will be needed to realize the goals of personalized medicine and to take advantage of the substantial investments in human genome and proteome research and its impact on human health.”
— US National Academies, 2012
What are glycans?
Glycans are sugar molecules that surround and modify proteins in your body. They respond to your lifestyle choices and indicate the inflammatory state of your immune system, which in turn determines to your biological age.
Glycans have a large influence on your unique biology and are regulated almost equally by our genes on one side and environment and lifestyle choices on the other.
How do Glycans affect health and ageing?
Glycans play a vital role in keeping us healthy but are also involved in most major diseases. As we age, the balance of pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory glycans in our body changes.
Various inflammatory effectors like excessive or unsuitable diet or fitness regimen, hormone changes, surrounding environment, ethnic background, etc. can cause an imbalance between pro and anti-inflammatory glycans. This leads to low-grade systemic inflammation, which can speed up the process of ageing and increase the risk for many diseases.
How does GlycanAge determine biological Age?
GlycanAge determines your biological age by looking at the state of your immune system and inflammation.
We analyse the glycans attached to the most common antibody in your blood, called Immunoglobulin G or IgG.
The type of glycans attached to IgG are able to change the function of IgG from pro-inflammatory to anti-inflammatory and vice versa.
We need both functions for a strong immune system, but the balance between them will determine our general health status and consequentially our biological age.
Our Scientists & Advisors
Our Scientific Advisory Board includes scientists, researchers, doctors, and authors across the fields of glycobiology, immunology, longevity and molecular biology, including lead figures from the Human Glycome Project.
They lead labs, teach at world-renowned academic institutions, and have hundreds of publications in peer-reviewed scientific journals.
The ongoing research allows us to not only provide the most accurate test of biological age, but also to keep adding to the insights we can deliver to you.
With over 100,000 participants worldwide, and 20 years of experience we are at the forefront of glycoscience globally.
- Prof. Sc.D Gordan Lauc Molecular Biologist
- Prof. Sc.D Ronald Schnaar Pharmacologist, Molecular Biologist
- PhD. Bill Andrews Scientist, Biologist and Gerontologist
- Prof. Sc.D Vlatka Zoldoš Epigeneticist
- PhD. Marija Pezer Scientist, Molecular Biologist
- Prof. Sc.D Dragan Primorac Physician, Geneticist, Forensic Scientist
Key Publications
Straight from the lab
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By Maja HanicYour glycans could predict high blood pressure before it becomes a health issue
Cardiovascular diseases are still by far the main cause of mortality worldwide. High blood pressure or hypertension is one of the main risk factors for vascular diseases that is, according to the latest research, predictable – even years before the first symptoms.
By Ph.D. Marina Martinic Kavur