# GlycanAge

GlycanAge is a biological-age test based on the sugar coating of your antibodies. Your antibodies (immunoglobulin G, or IgG) carry small branched sugar chains called N-glycans. GlycanAge reads them from a blood sample, using capillary electrophoresis or liquid chromatography. This sugar pattern shifts in a predictable way as you age. You lose galactose and sialic acid, and gain more bisecting GlcNAc. Together, those changes push your antibodies toward a more inflammatory state. The same patterns also respond to lifestyle and chronic disease. Because these sugars control how your antibodies act, and feed 'inflammaging', GlycanAge captures an immune side of aging that DNA-methylation clocks miss. The reference ranges and cutoffs are still being worked out.

## Sources

- Krištić J, Vučković F, Menni C, Klarić L, Keser T, Beceheli I, Pučić-Baković M, Novokmet M, Mangino M, Thaqi K, Rudan P, Novokmet N, Šarac J, Missoni S, Kolčić I, Polašek O, Rudan I, Campbell H, Hayward C, Aulchenko Y, Valdes AM, Wilson JF, Gornik O, Primorac D, Zoldoš V, Spector T, Lauc G. (2014). Glycans are a novel biomarker of chronological and biological ages. Journals of Gerontology Series A. https://doi.org/10.1093/gerona/glt190

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_Canonical: https://longevity-switzerland.com/en/glossary/glycanage · Part of Longevity Cities · Updated 2026-06-22_