Childhood Blood Biomarkers May Reveal Early Heart, Kidney, and Metabolic Risks

Vanderbilt Health, with collaborators at UTHealth Houston and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, developed a machine learning–derived proteomic signature from circulating proteins that reflects cardiovascular-kidney-metabolic disease (CKMD) biology in youth. Using blood samples and other physical measures from children as young as 8 years, investigators estimated associations between protein levels and disease-associated phenotypes. The resulting signature paralleled molecular biomarkers linked to irreversible cardiovascular disease in adults.

The study analyzed 273 children and adolescents enrolled in the Border Health Research Cohort in Cameron County, Texas, on the U.S.-Mexico border. More than one-third exhibited phenotypes consistent with CKMD risk, including obesity, elevated blood pressure, insulin resistance, and atherogenic lipid profiles. Similar protein patterns were also identified in 685 adults from the same community and in more than 28,000 adults in the UK Biobank.

Adult levels of these disease-associated proteins have been shown to decline with semaglutide, a glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonist originally developed for type 2 diabetes and now widely used for obesity and weight management in both children and adults. Between 2020 and 2023, pediatric prescriptions for GLP-1 receptor agonists rose by nearly 600%, underscoring the need to balance potential benefits with risks. 

Although additional research is required to validate the results, the authors note that proteomic signatures may “open a window into the earliest roots of cardiovascular disease at its most interruptible phase,” helping identify children at highest risk and those most likely to benefit from targeted therapy.

The findings were published on September 11, 2026, in Nature Metabolism. Institutional collaborators included Vanderbilt Health, UTHealth Houston, and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, with pediatric recruitment through the Border Health Research Cohort.

“Childhood is not simply a precursor to adult health. It is where the biology of adult cardiovascular disease is already taking place,” said Kari North, PhD, Professor at UTHealth Houston School of Public Health and Director of the Border Health Research Center.

“Because many of the protein patterns we identified are potentially modifiable, these findings suggest that the greatest opportunity to prevent heart disease may come decades before the first symptoms appear,” said Ravi Shah, MD, the Gottlieb C. Friesinger Professor of Cardiovascular Medicine at Vanderbilt Health and Co-Director of the Vanderbilt Diabetes Center.

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