Research led by Prof David Hunt and Dr Bastien Rioux (UK DRI at Edinburgh) has identified a new way to measure inflammation in very large population studies. The approach could help scientists better understand how long-term immune activation may contribute to vascular disease, and whether this pathway may also be relevant to dementia. The study, published in the journal Nature Communications, represents an important step forward in developing anti-inflammation strategies for preventing vascular disease and dementia.
What was the challenge?
Type I interferon proteins are produced by the body in response to viral infection. Some of these proteins are extremely potent, meaning that very low amounts of proteins are needed to provoke an immune response. Measuring interferon concentrations can therefore be very difficult, particularly in very large studies such as UK Biobank.
What did the team do and what did they find?
The team identified a cohort of people within UK Biobank treated with type I interferon therapies, and then analysed the blood of these individuals. Using this approach, it was possible to find a small number of proteins in the blood which were strongly linked to interferon levels.
Together, these proteins form an oligoprotein ‘signature’ which the researchers call MIRO (Markers of type I Interferon Response in Olink). This signature can be used to identify and follow people in UK Biobank to study how type I interferons influence disease.
In this study, the team showed that a high MIRO score was associated with increased risk of autoimmune disease, validating the biological relevance of the signature.
