Study of the possible relations between vitamin D, telomere length, and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein in older people

Abstract

Background Ageing is a multifactorial process, and telomere shortening is one of the possible mechanisms of cellular ageing. Many factors can affect telomere length (TL). Our study investigated the effect of vitamin D and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), as one of the inflammatory markers, on TL in older people. Patients and methods This was a cross-sectional study on 100 older people who did not have malignancy, autoimmune diseases, or renal disease and did not take vitamin D supplementation. Measurement of TL was done using real-time PCR, and for each sample, calculation of the T/S ratio was done. Telomere (T) signals in experimental DNA samples and single-copy gene (S) signals were measured in separate wells, in comparison with a reference DNA, to yield relative T/S ratios that are proportional to average TL. Results The results showed that vitamin D was significantly lower in females than males, and there was a significant positive correlation between vitamin D and the level of education of our participants. We found a highly significant negative correlation between vitamin D and hs-CRP. However, there was no significant correlation between T/S ratio and either vitamin D or hs-CRP. Conclusion In conclusion, vitamin D has an anti-inflammatory effect that decreased the hs-CRP level in our study. However, factors other than vitamin D and hs-CRP may be responsible for shortening telomere in elderly patients.