Twins MR Imaging Study - UK
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Characterising Biomarkers of Disease and Ageing in Twins using Magnetic Resonance Imaging.
IRAS ID
322446
Contact name
Claire Steves
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
King's College London
Duration of Study in the UK
5 years, 0 months, 0 days
Research summary
Diverse interactions between environmental, genetic, and epigenetic factors shape individual paths of ageing and disease. In young adulthood, twins are highly similar in most organ structures, but their similarity decreases over time as they are progressively exposed to different environments. Twin studies provide an ideal way to investigate how the body ages and how age-related diseases (such as Alzheimer's disease, heart failure, fatty liver disease, and cancer) develop.
Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is a type of scan that produces detailed images of the inside of the body. MRI enables non-invasive and safe visualisation of age, and disease-related changes in the body, often long before clinical symptoms are perceived. Three significant tissue changes occur gradually with age, which MRI can accurately measure: tissue size decrease, fatty changes, and thickening or scarring of tissue. These biological features/biomarkers, can be used to understand the influence of environmental exposures on ageing and disease.
In this study, we will create organ-specific biomarkers of ageing in adult twins. These can be used to identify twin pair differences related to ageing and disease. We will also create a comprehensive repository of MRI data using protocols harmonised with UK biobank to facilitate subsequent linkage of this with both concurrently acquired samples and historic exposome data in longitudinal twin cohort. This could be the most comprehensive resource of its kind to date.
Volunteers of TwinsUK (UK's largest adult twin Biobank and the most clinically detailed globally), will be invited to take part. Participants will undergo research MRI scans of their brain, spine, heart, abdomen and parts of their skeleton and muscles. A selection of twins with differences in their data will be invited to repeat the MRI scans about two years later to explore longitudinal multi-organ imaging correlates of key environmental exposures based on cross-sectional signals and existing literature.
REC name
London - City & East Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
23/LO/0640
Date of REC Opinion
22 Aug 2023
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion