Kindness and cellular aging: A pre-registered experiment testing the effects of prosocial behavior on telomere length and well-being

Objective: Prosocial behavior can improve psychological well-being and physical health. However, the underlying biological mechanisms that mediate the relationship between prosociality and health remain unclear. In this pre-registered experiment, we tested whether a 4-week kindness intervention could slow leukocyte telomere shortening and increase well-being. Methods: Community adults (N = 230) were randomly assigned to complete 1 of 3 activities, each week for 4 weeks: to perform 3 kind acts for other people, to perform 3 kind acts for themselves, or to list daily activities. At baseline and post-intervention, participants came to the lab to provide a small dried blood spot (DBS) sample via finger prick for analysis of telomere length. Participants completed psychological measures (e.g., loneliness, life satisfaction) at baseline, post-intervention, and at the 2-week follow up.Results: Participants who performed kind acts for others did not demonstrate hypothesized changes in telomere length, nor in well-being, relative to controls. Exploratory analyses revealed that, relative to controls, participants who did kind acts for others showed reductions in loneliness through the 2-week follow up. Conclusions: The salubrious effects of prosocial behavior in the short term are not likely due to the inhibition of cellular aging (at least as indexed by telomere length). However, extending kindness to others holds promise as a plausible intervention to alleviate the public health crisis of loneliness.

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Assessment of the Telomere Length and Its Effect on the Symptomatology of Parkinson’s Disease

Antioxidants ◽

10.3390/antiox10010137 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 10 (1) ◽

pp. 137

Author(s):

Tina Levstek ◽

Sara Redenšek ◽

Maja Trošt ◽

Vita Dolžan ◽

Katarina Trebušak Podkrajšek

Keyword(s):

Parkinson’S Disease ◽

Parkinson's Disease ◽

Telomere Length ◽

Repetitive Sequences ◽

Housekeeping Gene ◽

Cellular Aging ◽

Brain Diseases ◽

Motor Complications ◽

Telomere Attrition ◽

Significant Difference

Telomeres, which are repetitive sequences that cap the end of the chromosomes, shorten with each cell division. Besides cellular aging, there are several other factors that influence telomere length (TL), in particular, oxidative stress and inflammation, which play an important role in the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative brain diseases including Parkinson’s disease (PD). So far, the majority of studies have not demonstrated a significant difference in TL between PD patients and healthy individuals. However, studies investigating the effect of TL on the symptomatology and disease progression of PD are scarce, and thus, warranted. We analyzed TL of peripheral blood cells in a sample of 204 PD patients without concomitant autoimmune diseases and analyzed its association with several PD related phenotypes. Monochrome multiplex quantitative PCR (mmqPCR) was used to determine relative TL given as a ratio of the amount of DNA between the telomere and albumin as the housekeeping gene. We found a significant difference in the relative TL between PD patients with and without dementia, where shorter TL presented higher risk for dementia (p = 0.024). However, the correlation was not significant after adjustment for clinical factors (p = 0.509). We found no correlations between TLs and the dose of dopaminergic therapy when the analysis was adjusted for genetic variability in inflammatory or oxidative factors. In addition, TL influenced time to onset of motor complications after levodopa treatment initiation (p = 0.0134), but the association did not remain significant after adjustment for age at inclusion and disease duration (p = 0.0781). Based on the results of our study we conclude that TL contributes to certain PD-related phenotypes, although it may not have a major role in directing the course of the disease. Nevertheless, this expends currently limited knowledge regarding the association of the telomere attrition and the disease severity or motor complications in Parkinson’s disease.

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Telomeres and replicative cellular aging of the human placenta and chorioamniotic membranes

Scientific Reports ◽

10.1038/s41598-021-84728-2 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Tsung-Po Lai ◽

Mark Simpson ◽

Krunal Patel ◽

Simon Verhulst ◽

Jungsik Noh ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Dna Damage ◽

Preterm Birth ◽

Telomere Length ◽

Human Placenta ◽

Replicative Senescence ◽

Preterm Births ◽

Full Term ◽

Cellular Aging ◽

Telomere Dysfunction ◽

Replicative Aging

AbstractRecent hypotheses propose that the human placenta and chorioamniotic membranes (CAMs) experience telomere length (TL)-mediated senescence. These hypotheses are based on mean TL (mTL) measurements, but replicative senescence is triggered by short and dysfunctional telomeres, not mTL. We measured short telomeres by a vanguard method, the Telomere shortest length assay, and telomere-dysfunction-induced DNA damage foci (TIF) in placentas and CAMs between 18-week gestation and at full-term. Both the placenta and CAMs showed a buildup of short telomeres and TIFs, but not shortening of mTL from 18-weeks to full-term. In the placenta, TIFs correlated with short telomeres but not mTL. CAMs of preterm birth pregnancies with intra-amniotic infection showed shorter mTL and increased proportions of short telomeres. We conclude that the placenta and probably the CAMs undergo TL-mediated replicative aging. Further research is warranted whether TL-mediated replicative aging plays a role in all preterm births.

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The Experience of Empathy in Everyday Life

Psychological Science ◽

10.1177/0956797621995202 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 095679762199520

Author(s):

Gregory John Depow ◽

Zoë Francis ◽

Michael Inzlicht

Keyword(s):

Prosocial Behavior ◽

Everyday Life ◽

Perspective Taking ◽

Positive Emotions ◽

Daily Life ◽

Negative Emotions ◽

Well Being ◽

Negatively Associated ◽

The Everyday ◽

Trait Empathy

We used experience sampling to examine perceptions of empathy in the everyday lives of a group of 246 U.S. adults who were quota sampled to represent the population on key demographics. Participants reported an average of about nine opportunities to empathize per day; these experiences were positively associated with prosocial behavior, a relationship not found with trait measures. Although much of the literature focuses on the distress of strangers, in everyday life, people mostly empathize with very close others, and they empathize with positive emotions 3 times as frequently as with negative emotions. Although trait empathy was negatively associated only with well-being, empathy in daily life was generally associated with increased well-being. Theoretically distinct components of empathy—emotion sharing, perspective taking, and compassion—typically co-occur in everyday empathy experiences. Finally, empathy in everyday life was higher for women and the religious but not significantly lower for conservatives and the wealthy.

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Telomere Shortening and Accelerated Aging in US Military Veterans

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph18041743 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 18 (4) ◽

pp. 1743

Author(s):

Jeffrey T. Howard ◽

Jud C. Janak ◽

Alexis R. Santos-Lozada ◽

Sarah McEvilla ◽

Stephanie D. Ansley ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Telomere Length ◽

Military Service ◽

Accelerated Aging ◽

Cellular Aging ◽

Veterans Health ◽

Cvd Risk ◽

Base Pairs ◽

Telomere Shortening ◽

Race Ethnicity ◽

Service Data

A growing body of literature on military personnel and veterans’ health suggests that prior military service may be associated with exposures that increase the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD), which may differ by race/ethnicity. This study examined the hypothesis that differential telomere shortening, a measure of cellular aging, by race/ethnicity may explain prior findings of differential CVD risk in racial/ethnic groups with military service. Data from the first two continuous waves of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), administered from 1999–2002 were analyzed. Mean telomere length in base pairs was analyzed with multivariable adjusted linear regression with complex sample design, stratified by sex. The unadjusted mean telomere length was 225.8 base shorter for individuals with prior military service. The mean telomere length for men was 47.2 (95% CI: −92.9, −1.5; p < 0.05) base pairs shorter for men with military service after adjustment for demographic, socioeconomic, and behavioral variables, but did not differ significantly in women with and without prior military service. The interaction between military service and race/ethnicity was not significant for men or women. The results suggest that military service may contribute to accelerated aging as a result of health damaging exposures, such as combat, injury, and environmental contaminants, though other unmeasured confounders could also potentially explain the results.

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TERT rs2736100 and TERC rs16847897 genotypes moderate the association between internalizing mental disorders and accelerated telomere length attrition among HIV+ children and adolescents in Uganda

BMC Medical Genomics ◽

10.1186/s12920-020-00857-z ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 14 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Allan Kalungi ◽

Eugene Kinyanda ◽

Jacqueline S. Womersley ◽

Moses L. Joloba ◽

Wilber Ssembajjwe ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mental Disorders ◽

Children And Adolescents ◽

Telomere Length ◽

Cellular Aging ◽

Nucleotide Polymorphisms ◽

Moderating Effects ◽

Post Traumatic Stress ◽

Single Nucleotide ◽

Post Traumatic ◽

Component Gene

Abstract Background Internalizing mental disorders (IMDs) (depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder) have been associated with accelerated telomere length (TL) attrition; however, this association has not been investigated in the context of genetic variation that has been found to influence TL. We have previously reported an association between IMDs and accelerated TL attrition among Ugandan HIV+ children and adolescents. This study investigated the moderating effects of selected single nucleotide polymorphisms in the telomerase reverse transcriptase gene (TERT) (rs2736100, rs7726159, rs10069690 and rs2853669) and the telomerase RNA component gene (TERC) (rs12696304, rs16847897 and rs10936599) on the association between IMDs and TL, among Ugandan HIV+ children (aged 5–11 years) and adolescents (aged 12–17 years). Results We found no significant interaction between IMDs as a group and any of the selected SNPs on TL at baseline. We observed significant interactions of IMDs with TERT rs2736100 (p = 0.007) and TERC rs16847897 (p = 0.012), respectively, on TL at 12 months. Conclusions TERT rs2736100 and TERC rs16847897 moderate the association between IMDs and TL among Ugandan HIV+ children and adolescents at 12 months. Understanding the nature of this association may shed light on the pathophysiological mechanisms underlying advanced cellular aging in IMDs.

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Assessment of Long-Term in vitro Multiplied Human Wharton’s Jelly-Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells prior to Their Use in Clinical Administration

Cells Tissues Organs ◽

10.1159/000517423 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-11

Author(s):

Urvi Panwar ◽

Kanchan Mishra ◽

Parizad Patel ◽

Sumit Bharadva ◽

Salil Vaniawala ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Telomere Length ◽

Replicative Senescence ◽

Ex Vivo ◽

Wharton’S Jelly ◽

Cellular Aging ◽

Human Umbilical Cord ◽

Surface Markers ◽

Wharton's Jelly ◽

Ex Vivo Culture

The quantity of mesenchymal stem/stromal cells (MSCs) required for a particular therapy demands their subsequent expansion through ex vivo culture. During in vitro multiplication, they undergo replicative senescence which may alter their genetic stability. Therefore, this study was aimed to analyze cellular, molecular, and chromosomal alterations in Wharton’s jelly-derived MSCs (WJ-MSCs) during their in vitro sequential passages, where WJ-MSCs were sequentially passaged up to P14 and cells were evaluated at an interval of P2, P6, P10, and P14. They were examined for their morphology, tumorigenicity, surface markers, stemness markers, DNA damage, chromosomal aberration, and telomere length. We have processed five full-term delivered human umbilical cord samples to obtain WJ-MSCs. Morphological appearance observed at initial stages was small fine spindle-shaped WJ-MSCs which were transformed to flat, long, and broader cells in later passages. The cell proliferation rate was gradually decreased after the 10th passage. WJ-MSCs have expressed stemness markers OCT-4 and NANOG, while they showed high expression of positive surface markers CD90 and CD105 and lower expression of CD34 and CD45. They were non-tumorigenic with slow cellular aging during subsequent passages. There was no chromosomal abnormality up to the 14th passage, while increase in comet score and decrease in telomere length were observed in later passages. Hence, our study suggests that early and middle passaged (less than P10) WJ-MSCs are good candidates for clinical administration for treatment.

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Telomere biology and metabolic disorders: the role of insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes

Problems of Endocrinology ◽

10.14341/probl12510 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 66 (4) ◽

pp. 35-44

Author(s):

Ekaterina N. Dudinskaya ◽

Olga N. Tkacheva ◽

Natalia V. Brailova ◽

Irina D. Strazhesko ◽

Marina V. Shestakova

Keyword(s):

Diabetes Mellitus ◽

Insulin Resistance ◽

Type 2 Diabetes ◽

Carbohydrate Metabolism ◽

Telomere Length ◽

Telomerase Activity ◽

Cellular Aging ◽

The Mean ◽

Telomere Biology

BACKGROUND: Insulin resistance accelerates the aging process, but its speed depends on the individual characteristics of the metabolism. One of the reasons for the different aging rates in individuals with insulin resistance is the initially different “genetic protection” of cells, which many scientists associate with replicative cellular aging.AIMS: to study the relationship between the state of carbohydrate metabolism and markers of replicative cell aging in individuals with different sensitivity to insulin.MATERIALS AND METHODS: The observation study included 305 patients. The parameters of glucose metabolism and telomere biology were studied.RESULTS: The mean age of the patients was 51.5±13.3 years. Patients were divided into three groups depending on presence of insulin resistance: healthy, with insulin resistance and with type 2 diabetes. The mean age of healthy patients was 48.82±13.87 years, in insulin resistance group — 53.04±12.8, in 2 diabetes mellitus — 58.4±7.90. The median telomere length was 9.76. The median telomerase activity was 0.48. Both telomere length and telomerase activity progressively decrease as insulin resistance increases. In patients with diabetes, short telomere lengths and low telomerase activity predominated. The insulin resistance index has the greatest impact on the risk of detecting “short” telomeres. In patients with insulin resistance, an increase in glycated hemoglobin increases the likelihood of detecting short telomeres by 2.4 times, and in diabetes mellitus by 4.26 times, an increase in fasting plasma glucose by 90%, and an increase in HOMA-IR by 35%. An increase in insulin resistance increases the risk of detecting «low» telomerase activity by 53% and the risk of detecting «very low» telomerase activity by 92%. A decrease in synsulin resistance increases the chance of increasing telomerase activity to «very high» by 51%.CONCLUSION: Shorter telomeres are associated with more pronounced disorders of carbohydrate metabolism and a higher degree of insulin resistance. Further studies of metabolic status are necessary to personalize their lifestyle and treatment goals.

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