Researchers at Osaka University have developed an innovative AI-driven model that can estimate a person’s biological age using just five drops of blood. The new model analyzes hormone metabolism pathways, particularly steroid interactions, providing a more accurate picture of aging and health than conventional methods. This breakthrough opens doors for personalized interventions to manage age-related health risks.

Key HighlightsAI-Based Biological Age Estimation

• Uses only five drops of blood to analyze 22 key steroid hormones and their interactions.

• Focuses on steroid metabolism pathways to assess the body's internal balance.

• Provides a more precise health assessment than DNA methylation or protein-based biomarkers.

Stress and Accelerated Aging

• Findings show that doubling cortisol (stress hormone) levels increases biological age by approximately 1.5 times.

• Reinforces concrete evidence of how chronic stress biochemically accelerates aging.

AI Model Advantages

• Incorporates steroid ratios rather than absolute levels to reduce variability between individuals.

• Developed using deep neural network (DNN) architecture trained on hundreds of blood samples.

• Demonstrated that biological age differences widen as people grow older.

Statements from Researchers

• Dr. Qiuyi Wang, co-first author, stated: “Our bodies rely on hormones to maintain homeostasis, so we thought, why not use these as key indicators of aging?”

• Dr. Zi Wang, co-first and corresponding author, added: “Our approach reduces the noise caused by individual steroid level differences and allows the model to focus on meaningful patterns.”

• Professor Toshifumi Takao emphasized: “Stress is often discussed in general terms, but our findings provide concrete evidence that it has a measurable impact on biological aging.”

The research team aims to expand their dataset and integrate additional biological markers to refine the model further. This AI-powered innovation could revolutionize preventive healthcare by enabling early disease detection, tailored wellness programs, and lifestyle recommendations to slow down aging.