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Dog Aging Project Maps Blood Markers of Age, Spotlighting Kidney-Linked Amino Acids

An Aging Cell analysis of 784 dogs identifies discovery‑stage blood signals pending longitudinal validation.

Overview

  • Researchers reported age effects on roughly 36–40% of 133 measured blood metabolites in the Dog Aging Project Precision Cohort.
  • Post‑translationally modified amino acids emerged as strong age‑linked signals across breeds, sizes, and sexes, with patterns reported as robust to diet.
  • Clinical measures indicate kidney function mediates about half of the age association for these amino acids, with declines linked to metabolite buildup.
  • The cross‑sectional study used plasma profiling to position these molecules as candidate biomarkers of physiological aging.
  • Planned next steps include multi‑year tracking in the same dogs, probing gut‑microbe contributors and muscle mass links, testing intervention effects, and comparing patterns to human data.