Chronic inflammation drives disease – but how can it be measured?

Chronic inflammation is a driver of disease development, disease progression and outcome.

Chronic inflammation is derived from lifestyle factors (diet, smoking exercise), genetics and environmental factors (polition, chemicals etc). Also, social factors (e.g. looniness) and stressors (e.g. life stressors such as divorce, bankruptcy, and adverse events in childhood).

But how do you measure chronic inflammation? Traditionally, chronic inflammation has been measured using C-reactive protein (CRP). However, CRP is a fluctuating molecule affected by banal infections and is not sensitive enough to fully capture chronic inflammation.

In comes suPAR. suPAR is a newer biomarker which may, in fact, be a biomarker of chronic inflammation since it is stably associated with inflammation and immune activation; shares the same risk factors as many age-related diseases; is both elevated by and predicts age-related diseases. There is strong evidence that suPAR is a prognostic marker of adverse events, morbidity, and mortality. It is associated with immune activity and prognosis across diverse conditions, including kidney disease, cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes, and inflammatory disorders.

All individuals have a basic suPAR level

which simplifies statistics

suPAR is a measure of chronic inflammation

and is involved in both development and progression of disease

A high level of chronic inflammation is consistently a significant predictor of adverse outcomes

also when adjusting for other variables such as age, sex and disease and other biomarkers

suPAR is an inflammatory biomarker that predicts patient outcomes​

suPAR is a naturally occurring protein in human blood​

suPAR reflects the immune system’s activation level​

suPAR predicts negative patient outcomes across diseases

In the general population, individuals with low suPAR age slower

Low suPAR individuals have lower risk of developing diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer, and organ failure

Documented by 1000+ peer-reviewed publications

Here you can find a summary of the research done on suPAR within different disease areas.