哈佛医学院Hugo J. W. L. Aerts小组近日取得一项新成果。经过不懈努力，他们研究出对成人胸腺健康的影响。2026年3月18日，国际知名学术期刊《自然》发表了这一成果。

在这里，课题组人员提出保留胸腺功能是不可或缺的成人健康和长寿。课题组人员开发了一个深度学习框架，从常规放射图像中量化胸腺健康，并在两个大型无症状成人前瞻性队列中评估其与寿命和主要年龄相关疾病风险的关系：国家肺筛查试验（n = 25,031）和弗雷明汉心脏研究（n = 2,581)。在这两个队列中，整个人群的胸腺健康状况存在显著差异。

在全国肺部筛查试验中，在调整年龄、性别、吸烟和合并症后的12年随访中，胸腺健康水平越高，全肺脏死亡率越低，肺癌发病率越低，心血管死亡率越低。在独立的弗雷明汉心脏研究队列中，胸腺健康程度越高，心血管死亡率越低，与年龄、性别和吸烟无关。胸腺健康进一步与全身性炎症和代谢失调有关，并与吸烟、肥胖和体育锻炼等可改变的生活方式因素有关。总之，这些发现将胸腺重新定位为免疫介导的衰老和成年期疾病易感性的中心调节因子，突出了其作为预防和再生策略目标的潜力，以促进健康老龄化和长寿。

据了解，胸腺在生命早期对建立T细胞多样性至关重要，但随着年龄的增长，胸腺会经历深刻的退化，因此传统上被认为在成人中基本不起作用。

附：英文原文

Title: Thymic health consequences in adults

Author: Bernatz, Simon, Prudente, Vasco, Pai, Suraj, Attermann, Asbjrn K., Cao, Yumeng, Chen, Jiachen, Lyass, Asya, Foldyna, Borek, Nrnberg, Leonard, Bressem, Keno, Abbosh, Christopher, Swanton, Charles, Jamal-Hanjani, Mariam, Lu, Michael T., Murabito, Joanne M., Lunetta, Kathryn L., Birkbak, Nicolai J., Aerts, Hugo J. W. L.

Issue&Volume: 2026-03-18

Abstract: The thymus is essential for establishing T cell diversity early in life, but undergoes profound involution with age and has therefore traditionally been regarded as largely nonfunctional in adults1,2. Here we propose that preserving thymic functionality is integral to adult health and longevity. We developed a deep learning framework to quantify thymic health from routine radiographic images and evaluated its association with longevity and risk of major age-associated diseases in two large prospective cohorts of asymptomatic adults: the National Lung Screening Trial (n=25,031) and the Framingham Heart Study (n=2,581). In both cohorts, thymic health varied markedly across the population. In the National Lung Screening Trial, higher thymic health was consistently associated with lower all-cause mortality, reduced lung cancer incidence and lower cardiovascular mortality over 12 years of follow-up after adjustment for age, sex, smoking and comorbidities. In the independent Framingham Heart Study cohort, higher thymic health was significantly associated with reduced cardiovascular mortality, independent of age, sex and smoking. Thymic health was further linked to systemic inflammation and metabolic dysregulation, and associated with modifiable lifestyle factors including smoking, obesity and physical activity. Together, these findings reposition the thymus as a central regulator of immune-mediated ageing and disease susceptibility in adulthood, highlighting its potential as a target for preventive and regenerative strategies to promote healthy ageing and longevity.

DOI: 10.1038/s41586-026-10242-y

Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-026-10242-y