Improving Precision in Investigating Aging: Why Telomeres Can Cause Problems

Shiels, Paul G.

doi:10.1093/gerona/glq095

Cited by 34 publications

(33 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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Section: Hads Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scalementioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, it is also possible that telomere length may primarily be related to illness due to its strong association with chronic stress exposure rather than being a direct cause of illness (15). The use of telomere length as a marker of biological ageing has been criticized, and evidence linking telomere length to functional decline is somewhat equivocal (16,17).Over the past few years, a number of studies have found associations between MDD and telomere length; those with long-term MDD have been reported to have shorter telomeres than non-depressed controls. In a middle-aged sample with a variety of mood disorders including MDD, telomeres were significantly shorter among those with mood disorders versus age-matched controls (18).…”

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confidence: 99%

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Do Symptoms of Depression Predict Telomere Length? Evidence From the West of Scotland Twenty-07 Study

Phillips

Robertson

Carroll

et al. 2013

Psychosomatic Medicine

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Objective: Psychological factors such as the stress of caregiving are emerging as predictors of telomere length, an index of biological ageing. However, although lifetime major depressive disorder is associated with shorter telomeres, less is known about depression symptoms.Depression and depressive symptoms are associated with a range of morbidities and mortality, but the extent to which they predict biological ageing is unclear. The present study examined participants in the West of Scotland Twenty-07 Study across three age cohorts and four waves of data collection from 1992/93 to 2007/08. Methods: Participants were aged 37, 57, and 76 years old at final data collection. Depressive symptoms were measured using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale at each time point. Telomere length was assessed from 1063 blood samples collected at the final wave in 2007/08 for respondents who also had depression data. Results:Average depression symptoms (β = -.12, p = .047) and their change over time (β = -.12, p = .031) were negatively associated with telomere length, but only in the youngest cohort . Depressive symptoms were not cross-sectionally associated with telomere length in 2007-08 (β = -.03, p = .45).In the youngest cohort only, depressive symptoms assessed in 1995-97 and 2000-04 were associated with shorter telomere length (β = .14, p = .046, and β = .18, p = .012, respectively), but not 1992-93 or 2007-08; associations in the middle and older aged cohorts were non-significant. Conclusions:Depressive symptoms predict shorter telomeres, but only in younger adults.Keywords: ageing; depression; telomeres; cohort study; Abbreviations:AUC Area under the curve CES-D Centre for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale DNA Deoxyribonucleic acid EDTA Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid GDS Geriatric Depression Scale HADS Hospital Anxiety and Depression ScaleAuthor's Pre-print, please cite as: Phillips, A.C., Robertson, T., Carroll, D., Der, G., Shiels, P.G., . Do symptoms of depression predict telomere length? Evidence from the West of Scotland Twenty-07 Study. Psychosomatic Medicine, 75,[288][289][290][291][292][293][294][295][296] http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/PSY.0b013e318289e6b5 3 MDD Major Depressive Disorder NHS National Health Service PBL Peripheral blood leukocyte SE Standard error of the mean T/S ratio Telomere repeat copy number to single copy gene number ratio Author's Pre-print, please cite as: Phillips, A.C., Robertson, T., Carroll, D., Der, G., Shiels, P.G., . Do symptoms of depression predict telomere length? Evidence from the West of Scotland Twenty-07 Study. Psychosomatic Medicine, 75,[288][289][290][291][292][293][294][295][296] http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/PSY.0b013e318289e6b5 4 Depression is a strong predictor of morbidity and mortality (see e.g., (1, 2), even when sociodemographic variables and health behaviours are taken into account. The prevalence of depression is high among individuals with ageing-related physical illnesses (3)(4)(5). Several underlying mechanisms have been proposed including telomer...

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Section: Hads Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scalementioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Do Symptoms of Depression Predict Telomere Length? Evidence From the West of Scotland Twenty-07 Study

Phillips

Robertson

Carroll

et al. 2013

Psychosomatic Medicine

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“…Hence the association between gender and telomere length might vary by age. Whilst telomere length is inversely related to chronological age in humans (Shiels et al, 2011), there are concerns about how robust telomere length is as a biomarker of ageing (Shiels, 2010; Shiels et al, 2011). …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Gender and telomere length: Systematic review and meta-analysis

Gardner

Bann

Wiley

et al. 2014

Experimental Gerontology

411

280

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Background It is widely believed that females have longer telomeres than males, although results from studies have been contradictory. Methods We carried out a systematic review and meta-analyses to test the hypothesis that in humans, females have longer telomeres than males and that this association becomes stronger with increasing age. Searches were conducted in EMBASE and MEDLINE (by November 2009) and additional datasets were obtained from study investigators. Eligible observational studies measured telomeres for both females and males of any age, had a minimum sample size of 100 and included participants not part of a diseased group. We calculated summary estimates using random-effects meta-analyses. Heterogeneity between studies was investigated using sub-group analysis and meta-regression. Results Meta-analyses from 36 cohorts (36,230 participants) showed that on average females had longer telomeres than males (standardised difference in telomere length between females and males 0.090, 95% CI 0.015, 0.166; age-adjusted). There was little evidence that these associations varied by age group (p = 1.00) or cell type (p = 0.29). However, the size of this difference did vary by measurement methods, with only Southern blot but neither real-time PCR nor Flow-FISH showing a significant difference. This difference was not associated with random measurement error. Conclusions Telomere length is longer in females than males, although this difference was not universally found in studies that did not use Southern blot methods. Further research on explanations for the methodological differences is required.

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“…Because of the limited sample size and low number of events, we were unable to establish an association between TL elongation and clinical outcomes such as mortality. The latter is not unexpected, as TL is a weak biomarker of aging [19,38] and the observational period of this Japanese cohort was too short to detect a survival advantage of TL. Clearly, our data would benefit from confirmation by using a more robust biomarker of aging, such as CDKN2A.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 73%

Telomere Attrition and Elongation after Chronic Dialysis Initiation in Patients with End-Stage Renal Disease

Kato

Shiels²,

McGuinness³

et al. 2015

Blood Purif

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Aims: To analyze changes in telomere length (TL) after dialysis initiation. Methods: In 59 Japanese incident dialysis patients, associations between TL in peripheral blood leukocytes, inflammatory biomarkers and nutritional status at baseline and changes in TL during 1 year of dialysis, were investigated. Results: Whereas relative TL decreased by 8.6% (median 14.4%), TL elongation occurred in 16 patients (27%). Change in TL (ΔTL), defined as TL at 1 year minus TL at baseline, was associated with baseline TL (ρ = -0.70, p < 0.0001) and leukocyte count (ρ = 0.26, p = 0.044). In a logistic regression model, baseline TL (p < 0.0001) and leukocyte count (p = 0.047) were associated with ΔTL. Conclusions: TL shortening was observed in most incident dialysis patients. In 16 of the 59 patients, TL elongation occurred, possibly reflecting a more robust biological aging in patients whose naïve leukocytes may have undergone less proliferation to replace lost leukocytes.

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Improving Precision in Investigating Aging: Why Telomeres Can Cause Problems

Cited by 34 publications

References 20 publications

Do Symptoms of Depression Predict Telomere Length? Evidence From the West of Scotland Twenty-07 Study

Do Symptoms of Depression Predict Telomere Length? Evidence From the West of Scotland Twenty-07 Study

Gender and telomere length: Systematic review and meta-analysis

Telomere Attrition and Elongation after Chronic Dialysis Initiation in Patients with End-Stage Renal Disease

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