Glycans, Inflammation & Biological Age: A New Lens on Longevity

Why It Matters

Glycan-based diagnostics promise earlier, more actionable risk detection than current biomarkers, potentially transforming preventive medicine and creating a scalable market for longevity‑focused healthcare.

Key Takeaways

• Glycans act as modifiable biomarkers linking genetics and environment
• GlycanAge test predicts cardiovascular risk up to ten years early
• Company leverages 300,000+ glycome analyses, dominating global market share
• Clinical rollout targets hospitals for primary and secondary prevention
• Positive immune resilience scores aim to motivate healthier behavior

Summary

The podcast explores glycans—overlooked sugar molecules attached to proteins—as powerful indicators of inflammation, biological age, and longevity. Host Dr. Nina Patrick interviews Nikolina Lauc, CEO of GlycanAge, who explains how her family’s pioneering glycomics research led to the GlycanAge clock, a diagnostic that measures immune‑related glycan patterns to assess health risk. Key insights include glycans’ dual role as genetic and epigenetic integrators, their superior predictive power for cardiovascular events compared with traditional markers like CRP, and the company’s shift from consumer‑focused biological‑age reports to hospital‑based risk‑score tools. GlycanAge now operates in three major hospitals, processing tens of thousands of samples annually, and backs its claims with over 350 peer‑reviewed studies. Notable examples highlight the scale of their data—more than 300,000 glycome analyses, representing 83% of global glycomics—and the challenges of transferring high‑throughput glycan testing to clinical labs, which can take months of training. Lauc also contrasts the negative impact of mortality‑risk messaging with a more positive "immune resilience" score designed to encourage proactive lifestyle changes. The implications are significant: as healthcare embraces preventive metrics, glycans could become a standard, modifiable risk indicator, driving early interventions, reducing long‑term costs, and opening a new revenue stream for diagnostics firms. Wider adoption may also reshape how clinicians view biological age, moving it from a curiosity to a actionable clinical tool.

Original Description

Find Nina Patrick here: https://qrco.de/bgXpKn

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Sponsor: GlycanAge

Inflammaging drives CVD, metabolic disorders, and accelerated aging, but clinicians still lack reliable tools to measure, intervene, and track it in practice. GlycanAge brings together leading experts to close that gap with practical frameworks for assessing immune aging in real-world clinical settings.

Register via the link below and join the one-day event to learn how to measure immune aging and apply it to preventive and longevity care.

Date: June 20 2026 | Location: Hotel Dubrovnik Palace, Croatia

Link: https://glycanage.com/inflammaging-in-clinical-practice

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Guests: Nikolina Lauc

CEO & Co-Founder of GlycanAge

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nikolinalauc/

Website: https://glycanage.com/

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What if glycans—the neglected sugars on immune proteins—reveal inflammation and biological age more accurately than DNA methylation or CRP?

Phil Newman and Dr. Nina Patrick sit down with Nikolina Lauc, CEO and co-founder of GlycanAge, to explore how these biomarkers integrate genetics, epigenetics, and environment for superior aging insights.

Together they explain glycan shifts predicting cardiovascular events better than standard markers, with 300,000+ samples showing changes up to 10 years before diabetes. From perimenopause accelerating biological age by nine years (or decades in months for some) to moderate exercise yielding 10 years younger profiles versus pros matching sedentary inflammation, these reveal immune-driven aging realities. Contrasting epigenetic clocks' 10% variability (five-year swings same-day), glycans stay stable within one year.

They also discuss hormone replacement reversing effects, fasting dropping profiles in days despite 21-day half-life, overtraining myths, and psychology like PTSD adding 15 years immune age—pushing immune resilience scores over raw age.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

- Glycans predict CV risk/mortality across 350+ papers, outperforming CRP

- Perimenopause doubles aging rate; estrogen reverses 9-year spike

- Over-exercisers match sedentary inflammation; moderates gain 10 years

- Fasting alters glycans in days vs 21-day half-life

- Stress/divorce adds decades; PTSD shortens expectancy 15-20 years

- Glycans enable modifiable risk scores for hospitals like Northwestern

If you want to understand why inflammation may be the true driver of aging, this episode connects large-scale glycan data with real-world clinical implications for prevention and longevity.

Subscribe for weekly episodes that explore longevity science, preventative medicine, and the systems shaping how we live longer and better.

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Hosts:

Phil Newman: https://qrco.de/bgXpNY

Nina Patrick: ⁠⁠https://qrco.de/bgXpKn

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Timestamps:

00:00:05 - Intro

00:00:47 - Nikolina's Origin Story

00:04:36 - Glycans vs Epigenetics

00:08:20 - Clinical Applications

00:17:17 - Funding & Strategy Pivot

00:28:17 - Immune Resilience Score

00:43:28 - Intervention Surprises

01:02:08 - Women's Health Hormones

01:42:44 - Overtraining & Psychology

02:30:50 - Break & Inflammation Ad

02:55:23 - Nikolina's Personal Insights

03:28:20 - High Achiever Stress

04:13:00 - Failed Interventions

04:59:00 - Personalization Future

05:11:00 - Closing