Age-linked immune profiles identify distinct risk groups for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

In a study of human adults, researchers evaluated how age-associated immune markers relate to early risk for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The team first screened 439 healthy adults to identify immune biomarkers linked to age. They then tested these markers in a validation cohort of 89 community-dwelling adults, which included 34 healthy controls and 55 individuals at high risk for COPD who still had preserved lung function. Four cytokines—IL-4, IL-5, IL-6, and IL-12p70—correlated with age and were significantly elevated in the high-risk group. Unsupervised clustering of these cytokines revealed three distinct inflammatory endotypes: high, moderate, and low. Compared to the low-inflammatory endotype, adults in the high- and moderate-inflammatory clusters had significantly higher odds of being at high risk for COPD.