Unique specific human IL-37 ELISA for biological aging research

Interleukin-37 declines with aging in healthy humans

IL-37 is a unique member of the IL-1 family of cytokines, which functions as a natural suppressor of inflammatory and immune responses. The IL-37 levels increase to modulate inflammation in several pathophysiological states, including obesity, insulin resistance, and the metabolic syndrome, as well as in aging. Increased baseline inflammation is a feature of aging organisms and tissues and the role of IL-37 in the context of human physiological aging has not been studied.

In a recent study, the lab of Prof. Douglas R. Seals (University of Colorado Boulder, USA) reports in the journal GeroScience an investigation on the role of IL-37 in the context of human physiological aging and compared the levels of IL-37 in young, middle-aged and older adults using the IL-37 (human) ELISA Kit from Adipogen Life Sciences. The IL-37 (human) ELISA Kit has first been validated and its accuracy, reproducibility and specificity confirmed in an independent setting. In this study they observe that circulating concentrations of IL-37 are lower in older compared with younger adults, despite chronic low-grade elevations in pro-inflammatory cytokines in older adults. This suggests that older adults do not mount an appropriate plasma IL-37 response to combat age-related increases in circulating pro-inflammatory markers.

This study provides evidence that IL-37 concentrations decline in older age and are related to selective markers of healthspan in healthy humans and suggests a possible role of IL-37 in biological aging in humans.

Unique reagents to study human IL-37 in vitro and in vivo

Reference

• Brunt VE, Ikoba AP, Ziemba BP, et al. Circulating interleukin-37 declines with aging in healthy humans: relations to healthspan indicators and IL37 gene SNPs. Geroscience. Published online May 27, 2022.