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Associations of leukocyte telomere length with body anthropometric indices and weight change in chinese women
Author(s) -
Cui Yong,
Gao YuTang,
Cai Qiuyin,
Qu Shimian,
Cai Hui,
Li HongLan,
Wu Jie,
Ji BuTian,
Yang Gong,
Chow WongHo,
Shu XiaoOu,
Zheng Wei
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
obesity
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.438
H-Index - 199
eISSN - 1930-739X
pISSN - 1930-7381
DOI - 10.1002/oby.20321
Subject(s) - waist , body mass index , telomere , anthropometry , medicine , obesity , overweight , abdominal obesity , waist to height ratio , waist–hip ratio , endocrinology , demography , biology , genetics , sociology , dna
Objective: This study evaluated associations of telomere length with various anthropometric indices of general and abdominal obesity, as well as weight change. Design and Methods: The study included 2,912 Chinese women aged 40‐70 years. Monochrome multiplex quantitative polymerase chain reaction was applied to measure relative telomere length. Results: Telomere length was inversely associated with body mass index (BMI), waist circumference, waist‐to‐height ratio, weight, and hip circumference ( P trend = 0.005, 0.004, 0.004, 0.010, and 0.026, respectively), but not waist‐to‐hip ratio ( P trend = 0.116) or height ( P trend = 0.675). Weight change since age 50 was further evaluated among women over age 55. Women who maintained their weight within ±5% since age 50, particularly within a normal range (BMI = 18.5‐24.9 kg/m 2 ), or reduced their weight from overweight (BMI = 25‐29.9 kg/m 2 ) or obesity (BMI ≥30 kg/m 2 ) to normal range, had a longer mean of current telomere length than women who gained weight since age 50 ( P trend = 0.025), particularly those who stayed in obesity or gained weight from normal range or overweight to obesity ( P = 0.023). Conclusion: Our findings show that telomere shortening is associated with obesity and that maintaining body weight within a normal range helps maintain telomere length.