scholarly journals Telomere Shortening and Accelerated Aging in US Military Veterans

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.

The Possible Role of Telomere Length and Chemokines in the Aging Process: A Transdiagnostic Review in Psychiatry

2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 171-192
Author(s):  
Fernanda Endler Valiati ◽  
Gabriel Henrique Hizo ◽  
Jairo Vinícius Pinto ◽  
Márcia Kauer-Sant`Anna
Keyword(s):  
Psychiatric Disorders ◽  
Telomere Length ◽  
Aging Process ◽  
Accelerated Aging ◽  
Premature Death ◽  
Mental Illnesses ◽  
Telomere Shortening ◽  
Early Aging ◽  
The Relationship

Background: Psychiatric disorders are common, reaching a worldwide prevalence of 29.2%. They are associated with a high risk of premature death and with accelerated aging in clinical, molecular and neuroimaging studies. Recently, there is strong evidence suggesting a possible role of telomere length and chemokines in aging processes in psychiatric disorders. Objective: We aimed to review the literature on telomere length and chemokines and its association with early aging in mental illnesses on a transdiagnostic approach. Results: The review highlights the association between psychiatric disorders and early aging. Several independent studies have reported shorter telomere length and dysregulations on levels of circulating chemokines in schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, major depressive disorder, and anxiety disorders, suggesting a complex interaction between these markers in a transdiagnostic level. However, studies have investigated the inflammatory markers and telomere shortening separately and associated with a particular diagnosis, rather than as a transdiagnostic biological feature. Conclusion: There is consistent evidence supporting the relationship between accelerated aging, telomere length, and chemokines in mental disorders, but they have been studied individually. Thus, more research is needed to improve the knowledge of accelerated senescence and its biomarkers in psychiatry, not only individually in each diagnosis, but also based on a transdiagnostic perspective. Moreover, further research should try to elucidate how the intricate association between the chemokines and telomeres together may contribute to the aging process in psychiatric disorders.

scholarly journals Fruit and Vegetable Intake and Telomere Length in a Random Sample of 5448 U.S. Adults

Nutrients ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
pp. 1415
Author(s):  
Larry A. Tucker
Keyword(s):  
Telomere Length ◽  
Random Sample ◽  
Vegetable Intake ◽  
Quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction ◽  
Cellular Aging ◽  
Fruit And Vegetable Intake ◽  
Biological Aging ◽  
Fruit And Vegetable ◽  
Base Pairs ◽  
Cross Sectional

The relationship between fruit and vegetable intake and telomere length was examined using a cross-sectional design and an NHANES random sample of 5448 U.S. adults. Fruit and vegetable (F&V) consumption was assessed using a 24 h recall, and telomere length, an index of cellular aging, was measured using the quantitative polymerase chain reaction method. Telomere length was linearly related to F&V intake when combined (F = 22.7, p < 0.0001) and also when separated as fruit (F = 7.2, p < 0.0121) or vegetables (F = 15.4, p < 0.0005), after adjusting for covariates. Specifically, telomeres were 27.8 base pairs longer for each 100 g (3.5 ounces) of F&V consumed. Because each additional year of chronological age was associated with telomeres that were 14.9 base pairs shorter, when women and men were analyzed together, results indicated that a 100 g (3.5 oz) per day increment in F&V corresponded with 1.9 years less biological aging. When the 75th percentile of F&V intake was compared to the 25th, the difference was 4.4 years of cellular aging. When separated by sex, fruits and vegetables were both related to telomere length in women, but only vegetable intake was predictive of telomere length in men. In conclusion, evidence based on a random sample of U.S. adults indicates that the more the servings of F&V, the longer telomeres tend to be.

scholarly journals Adiposity and Leukocyte Telomere Length in US Adults by Sex-Specific Race/Ethnicity: National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey

2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 441-450 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sharon K. Davis ◽  
Ruihua Xu ◽  
Rumana J. Khan ◽  
Amadou Gaye
Keyword(s):  
Telomere Length ◽  
National Health ◽  
Mexican American ◽  
White Women ◽  
The United States ◽  
Cellular Aging ◽  
Leukocyte Telomere Length ◽  
Health And Nutrition ◽  
Race Ethnicity ◽  
Total Body

Objective: Little is known about the rela­tionship between adiposity and telomere length in the United States population. The objective of our research was to examine this relationship in a representative, socio­economically and sex-specific, diverse ra­cial/ethnic population in the United States.Design: Cross-sectional.Methods: Body mass index (BMI), % total body fat (TBF) and waist circumference (WC) with leukocyte telomere length (LTL) were examined according to sex-specific race/ethnicity using separate adjusted mul­tivariate linear regressions on a sample of 4,919 respondents aged 20-84 years from the National Health and Nutrition Examina­tion Survey’s 1999-2002 data.Results: LTL was shortened .41%, .44%, and .16% in African American (AA) women and was associated with increasing BMI, %TBF, and WC, (β:-.0041, 95%CI: -.0070, -.0012; P=.007; β:-.0044, 95% CI: -.0081, -.0007; P=.02; β:-.0016, 95%CI: -.0031, -.0001; P=.04, respectively). LTL was shortened .29% in White women and was associated with increasing %TBF (β:-.0029, 95%CI: -.0048, -.0009; P=.006). There were no associations among AA men, White men or Mexican American men and women.Conclusions: LTL is associated with an obesity phenotype in AA women. Tailored intervention is needed to ameliorate the burden of excess adiposity and subsequent cellular aging. Ethn Dis. 2020;30(3):441-450; doi:10.18865/ed.30.3.441

scholarly journals Major Depressive Disorder and Measures of Cellular Aging: An Integrative Review

2013 ◽  
Vol 2013 ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patricia Anne Kinser ◽  
Debra E. Lyon
Keyword(s):  
Major Depressive Disorder ◽  
Depressive Disorder ◽  
Telomere Length ◽  
Accelerated Aging ◽  
Telomerase Activity ◽  
Cellular Aging ◽  
Cumulative Exposure ◽  
Nursing Research ◽  
Major Depressive ◽  
Related Condition

Major depressive disorder (MDD) affects millions of individuals and causes significant suffering worldwide. It has been speculated that MDD is associated with accelerated aging-related biological and functional decline. To examine the accelerated aging hypothesis, one of the biomarkers under study is leukocyte telomeres, and specifically the measure of telomere length and telomerase activity. This review integrates findings from eleven human studies which evaluated telomere length and telomerase activity, in order to synthesize the state of the current science and to inform the development of new knowledge and enhance nursing research of depression using appropriate biobehavioral measures. Although preliminary, the findings from this integrated review suggest that there is evidence to support a conceptualization of depression as a stress-related condition in which telomeres shorten over time in relation to cumulative exposure to the chronic stress of depression. For the purposes of testing in future nursing research, visual representations of the theoretical connection between stress vulnerabilities, depression, and health outcomes and key moderators and mediators involved in this conceptualization are provided. The findings from this review and the conceptual framework provided may be a useful step towards advancing therapeutic nursing interventions for this debilitating chronic condition.

Abstract 07: Perceptions of Neighborhood Environment are Associated with Shorter Telomere Length in African American Women

Circulation ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 133 (suppl_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Samson Y Gebreab ◽  
Pia Riestra ◽  
Rumana J Khan ◽  
Ruihua Xu ◽  
Amadou Gaye ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
African American ◽  
African Americans ◽  
African American Women ◽  
Telomere Length ◽  
Social Cohesion ◽  
Mean Difference ◽  
Cellular Aging ◽  
Neighborhood Environment ◽  
Base Pairs ◽  
American Women

Objectives: Telomere length (TL) is increasingly being used as a biomarker of cellular aging and age-related cardiovascular diseases (CVD), but the associations between perceptions of neighborhood environment and TL among African Americans is understudied. This study examined whether perceptions of neighborhood environment were associated with TL in African Americans after adjustment for potential confounders. Methods: Data was obtained from the Minority Health Genomics and Translational Research Bio-Repository Database (MH-GRID) study recruited from April 2012 and September 2013. 252 (170 women and 82 men) African Americans aged 30 to 55 years were included. TL was measured from peripheral blood mononuclear cells using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction. Perceptions of neighborhood environment were assessed using a 12- item scale administered to study participants. The items were summed and averaged to create a score index representing social cohesion, problems and overall unfavorable perception of neighborhood environment. Multivariable linear regression models were used to examine the associations of perceptions of neighborhood environment with TL. Results: On average, women had significantly longer TL than men (4868.6 vs. 4574.8 base pairs, p=0.01). After controlling for socio-demographic variables, and CVD and psychosocial risk factors, a one standard deviation (SD) increase in perception of neighborhood problems was associated with shorter TL (mean difference[[Unable to Display Character: &#8201;]]=[[Unable to Display Character: &#8201;]]-106 base pairs; standard error (SE)=42, p[[Unable to Display Character: &#8201;]]=[[Unable to Display Character: &#8201;]]0.014) among women. Overall unfavorable perception of neighborhood environment was also associated with shorter TL among women (mean difference[[Unable to Display Character: &#8201;]]=[[Unable to Display Character: &#8201;]]-80; SE=38, p=[[Unable to Display Character: &#8201;]]0.034). Better perception of social cohesion was associated with longer TL, but did not reach statistical significance (mean difference = 32, SE=29, p=0.282). No consistent association was observed between perceptions of neighborhood environment and TL among men. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that perceptions of neighborhood environment may be predictive of cellular aging in African American women. Future longitudinal studies are needed to better determine the causal mechanisms underlying these associations.

Abstract P080: Self-reported Experiences of Everyday Discrimination are Associated With Shorter Leukocyte Telomeres in African-American Women With Coronary Heart Disease

Circulation ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 135 (suppl_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Samaah Sullivan ◽  
Viola Vaccarino ◽  
Muhammad Hammadah ◽  
Ibhar Al Mheid ◽  
Kobina Wilmot ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
African American ◽  
African American Women ◽  
Telomere Length ◽  
White Women ◽  
African American Men ◽  
White Men ◽  
Cellular Aging ◽  
Telomere Shortening ◽  
American Women ◽  
And Gender

Rationale: Leukocyte telomere length (LTL) is an indicator of biological aging. Telomere shortening may be sensitive to social stressors such as discrimination, but this has not been previously examined in a biracial cohort of patients with coronary heart disease (CHD). Objective: To explore differences in LTL by race and gender and examine whether discrimination was associated with accelerated cellular aging (shorter telomere length). Methods: Data were from 367 White and African American patients in the Mental Stress Ischemia Mechanisms and Prognosis Study (MIPS) which enrolled patients with a diagnosis of stable CHD from Emory University-affiliated hospitals and clinics. LTL was measured by quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) and expressed as a ratio of the amount of telomeric DNA to the amount of single-copy control gene (T/S). The T/S ratios were then converted to kilobase pairs. Discrimination was measured using the 10-item Everyday Discrimination Scale (EDS), where participants reported their experiences of everyday mistreatment during the previous 12 months. Responses were rated using 4-point Likert scales ranging from never = 1 to often = 4 which were summed. Due to the potential batch effect in telomere length, we modeled telomere plate as a random effect. Multiple linear regression models were stratified by race/ethnicity and gender to estimate differences in mean LTL and associations with discrimination, adjusted for potential confounding factors. Results: African American women had longer mean LTL (5.58; SD: 0.05) compared to African American men (5.28; SD: 0.04), White women (5.22; SD: 0.05) and White men (5.24; SD: 0.03). Reports of discrimination were higher among African American men (16.1; SD: 6.5) compared to African American women (15.4; SD: 4.9), White women (14.9; SD: 4.4), and White men (13.5; SD: 3.8). The association between discrimination and accelerated cellular aging was statistically significant among African American women [β = -0.02; 95% CI: (-0.04, -0.001); p=0.0377] after models were adjusted for demographics, smoking history, BMI, and disease history. Discrimination was not significantly associated with accelerated cellular aging among African American men [β = -0.01; 95% CI: (-0.02, 0.01)], White men β = [-0.003; 95% CI: (-0.02, 0.01)], or White women [β = -0.01; 95% CI: (-0.03, 0.01)]. The association between discrimination and accelerated cellular aging remained statistically significant for African American women after further adjusting for depression and perceived stress. Conclusions: Although African American women with CHD have longer telomere length, they may experience greater telomere shortening in relation to discrimination. Accelerated telomere shortening secondary to discrimination stress may be a potential mechanism of health related disparities among African American women with CHD.

scholarly journals Lifespan adversity and later adulthood telomere length in the nationally representative US Health and Retirement Study

2016 ◽  
Vol 113 (42) ◽  
pp. E6335-E6342 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eli Puterman ◽  
Alison Gemmill ◽  
Deborah Karasek ◽  
David Weir ◽  
Nancy E. Adler ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Telomere Length ◽  
Accelerated Aging ◽  
Childhood Adversity ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Cellular Aging ◽  
Cell Aging ◽  
Health And Retirement Study ◽  
Nationally Representative ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Retirement Study

Stress over the lifespan is thought to promote accelerated aging and early disease. Telomere length is a marker of cell aging that appears to be one mediator of this relationship. Telomere length is associated with early adversity and with chronic stressors in adulthood in many studies. Although cumulative lifespan adversity should have bigger impacts than single events, it is also possible that adversity in childhood has larger effects on later life health than adult stressors, as suggested by models of biological embedding in early life. No studies have examined the individual vs. cumulative effects of childhood and adulthood adversities on adult telomere length. Here, we examined the relationship between cumulative childhood and adulthood adversity, adding up a range of severe financial, traumatic, and social exposures, as well as comparing them to each other, in relation to salivary telomere length. We examined 4,598 men and women from the US Health and Retirement Study. Single adversities tended to have nonsignificant relations with telomere length. In adjusted models, lifetime cumulative adversity predicted 6% greater odds of shorter telomere length. This result was mainly due to childhood adversity. In adjusted models for cumulative childhood adversity, the occurrence of each additional childhood event predicted 11% increased odds of having short telomeres. This result appeared mainly because of social/traumatic exposures rather than financial exposures. This study suggests that the shadow of childhood adversity may reach far into later adulthood in part through cellular aging.

scholarly journals Symptoms of Prenatal Depression Associated with Shorter Telomeres in Female Placenta

2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (14) ◽  
pp. 7458
Author(s):  
Isabel Garcia-Martin ◽  
Richard J. A. Penketh ◽  
Samantha M. Garay ◽  
Rhiannon E. Jones ◽  
Julia W. Grimstead ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Telomere Length ◽  
Elective Caesarean Section ◽  
Depression Scale ◽  
Accelerated Aging ◽  
Cellular Aging ◽  
Prenatal Depression ◽  
Depression Symptoms ◽  
Maternal Mood ◽  
Length Analysis ◽  
The Relationship

Background. Depression is a common mood disorder during pregnancy impacting one in every seven women. Children exposed to prenatal depression are more likely to be born at a low birth weight and develop chronic diseases later in life. A proposed hypothesis for this relationship between early exposure to adversity and poor outcomes is accelerated aging. Telomere length has been used as a biomarker of cellular aging. We used high-resolution telomere length analysis to examine the relationship between placental telomere length distributions and maternal mood symptoms in pregnancy. Methods. This study utilised samples from the longitudinal Grown in Wales (GiW) study. Women participating in this study were recruited at their presurgical appointment prior to a term elective caesarean section (ELCS). Women completed the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) and trait subscale of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI). Telomere length distributions were generated using single telomere length analysis (STELA) in 109 term placenta (37–42 weeks). Multiple linear regression was performed to examine the relationship between maternally reported symptoms of depression and anxiety at term and mean placental telomere length. Results: Prenatal depression symptoms were significantly negatively associated with XpYp telomere length in female placenta (B = −0.098, p = 0.026, 95% CI −0.184, −0.012). There was no association between maternal depression symptoms and telomere length in male placenta (B = 0.022, p = 0.586, 95% CI −0.059, 0.103). There was no association with anxiety symptoms and telomere length for either sex. Conclusion: Maternal prenatal depression is associated with sex-specific differences in term placental telomeres. Telomere shortening in female placenta may indicate accelerated placental aging.

Highlighting the Correlation Between Telomere Shortening and the Susceptibility to the Novel SARS-CoV-2 Virus (COVID-19)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aml Ghanem
Keyword(s):  
Telomere Length ◽  
Stress Responses ◽  
Viral Infections ◽  
Deep Understanding ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Telomere Shortening ◽  
Infection Pathways ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Demographic Distribution

COVID-19 is a global crisis that requires a deep understanding of infection pathways to facilitate the development of effective treatments and vaccines. Telomere, which is regarded as a biomarker for other respiratory viral infections, might influence the demographic distribution of COVID-19 infection and fatality rates. Viral infection can induce many cellular remodeling events and stress responses, including telomere specific alterations, just as telomere shortening. In brief, this letter aims to highlight the connection between telomere shortening and susceptibility to COVID-19 infection, in addition to changes in telomeric length according to the variation of age and gender of confirmed cases with COVID-19 infection. To sum up, the correlation is revealed from the available data that connect telomere length and COVID-19 infection, demonstrated in the fact that the elderly patients and males are more susceptible to COVID-19 due to shortening in their telomere length.

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