Dataset Information

Association Between Weight Change and Leukocyte Telomere Length in U.S. Adults.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

To investigate the association of dynamic weight change in adulthood with leukocyte telomere length among U.S. adults.

Methods

This study included 3,886 subjects aged 36-75 years from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 1999-2002 cycle. Survey-weighted multivariable linear regression with adjustments for potential confounders was utilized.

Results

3,386 individuals were finally included. People with stable obesity had a 0.130 kbp (95% CI: 0.061-0.198, P=1.97E-04) shorter leukocyte telomere length than those with stable normal weight (reference group) during the 10-year period, corresponding to approximately 8.7 years of aging. Weight gain from non-obesity to obesity shortened the leukocyte telomere length by 0.094 kbp (95% CI: 0.012-0.177, P=0.026), while normal weight to overweight or remaining overweight shortened the leukocyte telomere length by 0.074 kbp (95% CI: 0.014-0.134, P=0.016). The leukocyte telomere length has 0.003 kbp attrition on average for every 1 kg increase in weight from a mean age of 41 years to 51 years. Further stratified analysis showed that the associations generally varied across sex and race/ethnicity.

Conclusions

This study found that weight changes during a 10-year period was associated with leukocyte telomere length and supports the theory that weight gain promotes aging across adulthood.

SUBMITTER: Zhang Y

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8355991 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:BackgroundExposure to persistent organic pollutants (POPs) such as dioxins, furans, and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) may influence leukocyte telomere length (LTL), a biomarker associated with chronic disease. In vitro research suggests dioxins may bind to the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) and induce telomerase activity, which elongates LTL. However, few epidemiologic studies have investigated associations between POPs and LTL.ObjectivesWe examined the association between 18 PCBs, 7 dioxins, and 9 furans and LTL among 1,330 U.S. adults from NHANES 2001-2002.MethodsWe created three summed POP metrics based on toxic equivalency factor (TEF), a potency measure including affinity for the AhR: a) non-dioxin-like PCBs (composed of 10 non-dioxin-like PCBs; no AhR affinity and no TEF); b) non-ortho PCBs (composed of 2 non-ortho-substituted PCBs with high TEFs); and c) toxic equivalency (TEQ) (composed of 7 dioxins, 9 furans, 2 non-ortho-substituted PCBs, and 6 mono-ortho-substituted PCBs; weighted by TEF). We tested the association between each metric and LTL using linear regression, adjusting for demographics, blood cell count and distribution, and another metric with a different TEF (i.e., non-ortho PCBs and TEQ adjusted for non-dioxin-like PCBs; non-dioxin-like PCBs adjusted for non-ortho PCBs).ResultsIn adjusted models, each doubling of serum concentrations of non-ortho PCBs and TEQ was associated with 3.74% (95% CI: 2.10, 5.40) and 5.29% (95% CI: 1.66, 9.05) longer LTLs, respectively. Compared with the lowest quartile, the highest quartile of exposure was associated with 9.16% (95% CI: 2.96, 15.73) and 7.84% (95% CI: -0.53, 16.92) longer LTLs, respectively. Non-dioxin-like PCBs were not associated with LTL.ConclusionsPOPs with high TEFs and AhR affinity were associated with longer LTL. Because many dioxin-associated cancers are also associated with longer LTL, these results may provide insight into the mechanisms underlying PCB- and dioxin-related carcinogenesis.CitationMitro SD, Birnbaum LS, Needham BL, Zota AR. 2016. Cross-sectional associations between exposure to persistent organic pollutants and leukocyte telomere length among U.S. adults in NHANES, 2001-2002. Environ Health Perspect 124:651-658;?http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/ehp.1510187.