Short Telomere Length is Associated with Aging, Central Obesity, Poor Sleep and Hypertension in Lebanese Individuals

Abstract

In Lebanon, data stemming from national cross-sectional surveys indicated significant increasing trends in the prevalence of cardiovascular diseases and associated behavioral and age-related risk factors. To our knowledge, no data are available on relative telomere length (RTL) as a potential biomarker for age-related diseases in a Lebanese population. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether there is an association between RTL and demographic characteristics, lifestyle habits and diseases in the Lebanese. This was a cross-sectional study of 497 Lebanese subjects. Peripheral blood RTL was measured by amplifying telomere and single copy gene using real-time PCR. Mean ± SD RTL was 1.42 ± 0.83, and it was categorized into 3 tertiles. Older age (P=0.002) and wider waist circumference (WC) (P=0.001) were statistically significantly associated with shorter RTL. Multinomial logistic regression showed that subjects who had some level of sleeping difficulty had a statistically significantly shorter RTL when compared to those with no sleeping difficulties at all [OR (95% CI): 2.01 (1.11-3.62) in the first RTL tertile]. Importantly, statistically significantly shorter RTL was found with every additional 10 cm of WC [OR (95% CI): 1.30 (1.11-1.52) for first RTL tertile]. In addition, and after performing the multivariate logistic regression and adjusting for “predictors” of RTL, the odds of having hypertension or being treated for hypertension were higher in patients who had shorter RTL: OR (95% CI): 2.45 (1.36-4.44) and 2.28 (1.22-4.26) in the first RTL tertiles respectively with a similar trend, though not statistically significant, in the second RTL tertiles. This is the first study in Lebanon to show an association between age, central obesity, poor sleep and hypertension and RTL. It is hoped that telomere length measurement be potentially used as a biomarker for biological age and age-related diseases and progression in the Lebanese.

Biological senescence risk score. A practical tool to predict biological senescence status

“…It is known that patients with increased waist circumference have been associated with telomeric shortening. 33 However, we did not observe statistically significant associations. This could be explained by the characteristics of the patients in our study, where the patients were mainly obese in both groups.…”

Relationship between short telomere length and stroke

“…Telomeres are the DNA–protein structures located at the end of chromosomes [ 3 ] ; in regularly, the telomere length of normal somatic cells is gradually shortened with the cell division. Several studies had proved that telomere length may be a biomarker for biological age and age-related diseases, [ 4 – 6 ] including some cancers, diabetes, chronic kidney diseases, Alzheimer's disease, hypertension, cardiovascular diseases. [ 7 – 13 ] Besides, study has showed that short telomere length is also closely related with early-onset and delayed carotid atherosclerosis.…”

Diet, physical activity and telomere length in adults

“…Telomere shortening has been related to high levels of inflammation (11), oxidative stress (12)(13)(14), and metabolic factors such as abdominal fat, elevated blood glucose levels, and hypertension (15,16). A shorter TL has also been linked to conditions associated with lifestyle that are potentially modifiable factors, such as a decrease in fruit consumption (7) and physical inactivity (17,18).…”