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Prospective association of depression and phobic anxiety with changes in telomere lengths over 11 years.

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND:Although depression and anxiety have been associated with shorter telomeres in cross-sectional studies, the data regarding the prospective relations of depression and anxiety to accelerated telomere length shortening are limited and findings are mixed. We prospectively examined relations of baseline depression and phobic anxiety to subsequent 11-year change in relative leukocyte telomere lengths (LTLs). METHODS:We selected 1,250 women from a subcohort of the Nurses' Health Study who provided blood specimens at both blood collections (1989-1990 and 2000-2001). Depression was defined by self-reported regular antidepressant use or presence of severe depressive symptoms; anxiety symptoms were assessed using the Crown-Crisp Experiential Index. Using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction assay, LTLs were measured as the copy number ratio of telomere repeat to a single control gene. Changes in LTLs were defined in three ways: absolute change, symmetrized percent change, and decile shift. RESULTS:Overall, there were no statistically significant associations of depression or phobic anxiety to subsequent 11-year LTL shortening, despite a point estimates in the direction of greater telomere shortening among participants with versus without depression, across all three metrics of telomere change. The strongest predictor of LTL change was baseline telomere length, and regression-to-the-mean was observed. CONCLUSION:Baseline depression and phobic anxiety were not significantly associated with 11-year attrition in LTLs among 1,250 mid-life and older women. However, a suggestion of depression and greater subsequent LTL attrition, while not statistically significant, may warrant further inquiry, particularly in prospective studies with larger sample sizes and broader windows of the lifespan.

SUBMITTER: Chang SC

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6085135 | biostudies-literature | 2018 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Prospective association of depression and phobic anxiety with changes in telomere lengths over 11 years.

Chang Shun-Chiao SC Crous-Bou Marta M Prescott Jennifer J Rosner Bernard B Simon Naomi M NM Wang Wei W De Vivo Immaculata I Okereke Olivia I OI

Depression and anxiety 20180227 5

<h4>Background</h4>Although depression and anxiety have been associated with shorter telomeres in cross-sectional studies, the data regarding the prospective relations of depression and anxiety to accelerated telomere length shortening are limited and findings are mixed. We prospectively examined relations of baseline depression and phobic anxiety to subsequent 11-year change in relative leukocyte telomere lengths (LTLs).<h4>Methods</h4>We selected 1,250 women from a subcohort of the Nurses' Hea ...[more]

PMID: 29486096

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Project description:ContextAnxiety disorders are common, with a lifetime prevalence of 20% in the U.S., and are responsible for substantial burdens of disability, missed work days and health care utilization. To date, no causal genetic variants have been identified for anxiety, anxiety disorders, or related traits.ObjectiveTo investigate whether a phobic anxiety symptom score was associated with 3 alternative polygenic risk scores, derived from external genome-wide association studies of anxiety, an internally estimated agnostic polygenic score, or previously identified candidate genes.DesignLongitudinal follow-up study. Using linear and logistic regression we investigated whether phobic anxiety was associated with polygenic risk scores derived from internal, leave-one out genome-wide association studies, from 31 candidate genes, and from out-of-sample genome-wide association weights previously shown to predict depression and anxiety in another cohort.Setting and participantsStudy participants (n?=?11,127) were individuals from the Nurses' Health Study and Health Professionals Follow-up Study.Main outcome measureAnxiety symptoms were assessed via the 8-item phobic anxiety scale of the Crown Crisp Index at two time points, from which a continuous phenotype score was derived.ResultsWe found no genome-wide significant associations with phobic anxiety. Phobic anxiety was also not associated with a polygenic risk score derived from the genome-wide association study beta weights using liberal p-value thresholds; with a previously published genome-wide polygenic score; or with a candidate gene risk score based on 31 genes previously hypothesized to predict anxiety.ConclusionThere is a substantial gap between twin-study heritability estimates of anxiety disorders ranging between 20-40% and heritability explained by genome-wide association results. New approaches such as improved genome imputations, application of gene expression and biological pathways information, and incorporating social or environmental modifiers of genetic risks may be necessary to identify significant genetic predictors of anxiety.

Dataset Information

Prospective association of depression and phobic anxiety with changes in telomere lengths over 11 years.

Publications

Prospective association of depression and phobic anxiety with changes in telomere lengths over 11 years.

Similar Datasets

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