Our blood holds many secrets about our health. Tiny proteins that flow through our bloodstream can give doctors important clues about what’s happening inside our bodies.
These proteins are different from our genes.
While genes tell us what we might be at risk for from birth, blood proteins show what’s going on right now—how our bodies are working and whether something might be going wrong.
A new study published in the journal Circulation: Genomic and Precision Medicine has taken a closer look at some of these proteins and how they may be linked to heart disease.
The research was led by Dr. Kathryn McGurk and her team from the Computational Cardiac Imaging and Cardiovascular Genomics Precision Medicine groups. Their goal was to understand how certain proteins could be used to better predict and treat heart disease.
To do this, the team studied blood samples from more than 45,000 people in the UK Biobank. They focused on nine proteins that are known to play roles in heart function and disease.
These included proteins like ACE2, BNP, NT-proBNP, and troponin I. What they found was very interesting: the levels of these proteins in the blood were not the same for everyone. They changed depending on a person’s age, sex, genetics, lifestyle, and medications.
One protein that stood out in the study was ACE2. This protein became widely known during the COVID-19 pandemic because it is the entry point the virus uses to infect human cells. But ACE2 also has another important role.
It helps to relax blood vessels by breaking down a substance called angiotensin II, which normally causes blood vessels to tighten. In people with high blood pressure or diabetes, levels of ACE2 were found to be higher, especially in women.
This may seem surprising, but it could actually be a good thing. The researchers believe that these higher ACE2 levels may be the body’s way of trying to protect itself by helping blood vessels relax and lowering blood pressure.
This finding is important because high blood pressure and diabetes are very common. If ACE2 helps the body fight these problems naturally, it could be a helpful sign or “biomarker” that doctors can look for in blood tests. It might also change the way we treat high blood pressure.
Right now, a common treatment is ACE inhibitors. These drugs work by blocking another protein, ACE1, which raises blood pressure. But if someone has higher levels of ACE2, they may respond to these drugs differently. This could lead to more personalized treatments, where doctors choose the best drug based on a person’s ACE2 levels.
The study also mentions that the diabetes drug metformin might increase ACE2 in the body. This could be one of the ways it helps people with diabetes. In the future, researchers may look into whether boosting ACE2 or copying its effects could be a new way to treat both high blood pressure and diabetes.
Overall, this study is a great example of how science and technology can work together to improve healthcare.
Dr. McGurk said that the key to this discovery was teamwork, especially from young researchers. By studying proteins in the blood, scientists are finding new ways to spot disease earlier and create better treatments that are tailored to each person.
This research highlights how one single protein, ACE2, might play a big role in protecting our hearts and blood vessels. It also reminds us that looking at what’s happening in the blood—not just our genes—can lead to better health outcomes.
If you care about diabetes, please read studies about a cure for type 2 diabetes, and these vegetables could protect against kidney damage in diabetes.
For more health information, please see recent studies about bone drug that could lower risk of type 2 diabetes, and results showing eating more eggs linked to higher risk of type 2 diabetes.
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