Premium
Serum 25‐Hydroxyvitamin D Concentration and Leukocyte Telomere Length in US Adults: A Nationwide Population‐Based Study
Author(s) -
Bao Wei,
Oleson Jacob J.,
Snetselaar Linda G.
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.31.1_supplement.460.6
Subject(s) - national health and nutrition examination survey , telomere , body mass index , vitamin d and neurology , medicine , demography , population , linear regression , endocrinology , gerontology , physiology , biology , genetics , environmental health , statistics , dna , mathematics , sociology
Background Vitamin D status has been associated with a variety of health outcomes, beyond bone health. The role of vitamin D in aging and longevity remains controversial. We examined the association between serum 25‐hydroxyvitamin D (25[OH]D) concentration and telomere length, an indicator of cellular aging and biological longevity, in US adults. Methods We used data from a nationally representative subsample of 4215 adults in the 2001‐2002 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). This was the only NHANES cycle when both serum 25(OH)D and leukocyte telomere length were measured. Serum 25(OH)D concentration was measured using a radioimmunoassay method. The leukocyte telomere length relative to standard reference DNA (T/S ratio) was measured in purified DNA samples using the quantitative polymerase chain reaction method. We used linear regression to estimate the relationship between serum 25(OH)D levels and telomere length. Both serum 25(OH)D levels and telomere length were log‐transformed prior to modeling to satisfy regression assumptions. The model was adjusted for covariates including age, gender, race/ethnicity, education, family income to poverty ratio, smoking status, alcohol intake, physical activity, total energy intake, and body mass index. Survey weights, strata, and primary sampling units were used in all analyses to account for the complex sampling design. Results After adjustment for covariates, although there was no main effect (β [SE] 0.017 [0.014], P=0.24), the relationship between serum 25(OH)D levels and leukocyte telomere length differed by age. Specifically, there was a significant association between serum 25(OH)D levels and leukocyte telomere length in adults of 45–64 years old (0.086 [0.022], P=0.001), but not in adults of 20–44 years old (−0.024 [0.021], P=0.26) or adults ≥ 65 years old (−0.004 [0.027], P=0.87). We observed no effect modification on the association by gender or race/ethnicity. Conclusions In this large nationwide population‐based study, we observed a significant association between serum 25(OH)D levels and leukocyte telomere length in middle‐aged adults, but not in younger or elder adults.