At SynHealth, our mission is to transform healthcare from reactive “sick care” to proactive, personalised prevention. A key part of this journey is identifying the molecular signals — biological mirrors that can reveal how our lifestyle choices influence our long-term health.
Today, we are excited to highlight new findings from “A 2-year calorie restriction intervention may reduce glycomic biological age biomarkers – a pilot study”, published in npj Aging. Featuring researchers from Genos Ltd, Glycoscience Research Laboratory in Zagreb, Croatia, the study explores whether long-term dietary changes can actually “rejuvenate” molecular ageing markers linked to our glycome.
The Science of GlycAge
Central to the SynHealth project is the study of glycans—complex sugar molecules attached to our proteins. These molecules are sensitive indicators of our biological age, responding to factors such as lifestyle, nutrition, inflammation and ageing. While our birthday tells us how many years we’ve lived, our “GlycAge” offers a glimpse into how our body is actually ageing beneath the surface.
Key Findings from the Study
Using data from the 2-year CALERIE™ Phase 2 trial, researchers found that participants who maintained a calorie restriction (CR) intervention showed:
A “Youthful” Shift in Glycans: IgG galactosylation increased during the intervention, with a significant increase in digalactosylation during the second year, a molecular state associated with a younger, less inflammatory immune profile.
Reduction in “Inflammaging” Markers: The intervention significantly reduced highly branched plasma glycans, which have been associated with chronic, age-related inflammation.
A Shift in Biological Age: During the second year of the study, participants’ GlycAge — a biological age measure based on IgG glycans — decreased significantly, suggesting a shift towards a younger glycomic profile.
Why This Matters for SynHealth
By leveraging 15 years of pioneering Genos research on glycan biomarkers and past EU-funded initiatives, the project focuses on the valorisation of these discoveries for real-world application in Croatia and Slovenia. Through regional partnerships and technology transfer, SynHealth aims to translate research breakthroughs into clinical diagnostic tools for healthy longevity.
👉 Read the full open-access publication here:
A 2-year calorie restriction intervention may reduce glycomic biological age biomarkers – a pilot study
👉 Learn more about SynHealth’s mission: click here
Publication Information
This research was supported by US National Institute on Aging grants U01AG020487, R33AG070455, and R01AG061378. S.K. was supported by a training grant NHLBIK12HL141956 from the National Institutes of Health. N.E.L. was supported by NIGMH (R35GM119850) and the Novo Nordisk Foundation (NNF20SA0066621), and V.B.K. was funded by R01AG054840 and by P30 AG028716. This work was supported in part by the National Institute on Aging Intramural Research Program (J.D. and L.F.). S.K.D. is supported by the USDA Agricultural Research Service Cooperative Agreement # 8050-10700-002. D.W.B., K.M.H., W.E.K., S.K.D., S.B.R., and C.P. are supported by NIH R01: AG071717; G.L. is supported by the European Research Council (ERC) Synergy grant “GlycanSwitch” (contract no. 101071386), and the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme grant “SYNHEALTH” (contract no. 101159018). The content in this article is the sole responsibility of the author and does not necessarily represent the official views of the USDA.
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