Abstract
Shorter leukocyte telomere length (LTL) has been associated with a wide range of age-related disorders including cardiovascular disease (CVD) and diabetes. Obesity is an important risk factor for CVD and diabetes. The association of LTL with obesity is not well understood. This study for the first time examines the association of LTL with obesity indices including body mass index, waist circumference, percent body fat, waist-to-hip ratio, and waist-to-height ratio in 3,256 American Indians (14-93 years old, 60% women) participating in the Strong Heart Family Study. Association of LTL with each adiposity index was examined using multivariate generalized linear mixed model, adjusting for chronological age, sex, study center, education, lifestyle (smoking, alcohol consumption, and total energy intake), high-sensitivity C-reactive protein, hypertension and diabetes. Results show that obese participants had significantly shorter LTL than non-obese individuals (age-adjusted P=0.0002). Multivariate analyses demonstrate that LTL was significantly and inversely associated with all of the studied obesity parameters. Our results may shed light on the potential role of biological aging in pathogenesis of obesity and its comorbidities.
Highlights
Telomeres are specialized nucleotide (TTAGGG)n repeats and their associated proteins on the distal ends of human chromosomes
The purpose of this study is to examine the possible association of leukocyte telomere length (LTL) with obesity in American Indians participating in the Strong Heart Family Study (SHFS)
Well-characterized population of American Indians, LTL is inversely correlated with all obesity indices
Summary
Telomeres are specialized nucleotide (TTAGGG)n repeats and their associated proteins on the distal ends of human chromosomes. They are critical in maintaining chromosomal stability during mitotic cell proliferation. Because of the end-replication problem, telomere length shortens progressively during each round of cell division [1]. Shorter leukocyte telomere length (LTL) has been associated with a variety of age-related disorders, such as hypertension [2], diabetes [3], cardiovascular diseases (CVD) [4, 5] and certain types of cancers [6, 7]. Obesity is an escalating health problem that is associated with aging and age-related diseases. The prevalence of obesity is reaching epidemic proportions among all ethnic groups including American Indians
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