Research on thousands of proteins measured from a drop of blood demonstrates the ability of proteins to predict the onset of many diverse diseases. The research, published today (22 July 2024) in Nature Medicine , was carried out as part of an international research partnership between GSK, Queen Mary University of London, University College London, Cambridge University and the Berlin Institute of Health at Charité Universitätsmedizin, Germany. The researchers used data from the UK Biobank Pharma Proteomics Project (UKB-PPP), the largest proteomics study to date with measurements for approximately 3,000 plasma proteins from a randomly selected set of over 40,000 UK Biobank participants.
The protein data is linked to the participants' electronic health records. The authors used advanced analytical techniques to pinpoint, for each disease, a 'signature' of between the 5 and 20 proteins most important for prediction. The researchers report the ability of protein 'signatures' to predict the onset of 67 diseases including multiple myeloma, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, motor neurone disease, pulmonary fibrosis, and dilated cardiomyopathy.
The protein prediction models out-performed models based on standard, clinically recorded information. Prediction based on blood cell counts, cholesterol, kidney function and diabetes tests (glycated haemoglobin) performed less well than the protein prediction models for most examples. The patient benefits of measuring and discussing the risk of futu.