School of Medicine, University of East Anglia, Norwich, United Kingdom.
Am J Clin Nutr. 2010 May;91(5):1273-80. doi: 10.3945/ajcn.2009.28947. Epub 2010 Mar 10.
Leukocyte telomere length is associated with diseases of aging, but there is limited knowledge of diet and lifestyle determinants.
The objective was to examine cross-sectionally the association between diet, body composition, and lifestyle factors on leukocyte telomere length in women.
Leukocyte telomere length was measured by quantitative polymerase chain reaction in 2284 female participants from the Nurses' Health Study, who were selected as controls for an investigation of biological predictors of cancer. Diet, lifestyle, and anthropometric data were assessed by questionnaire.
After multivariate adjustment, dietary fiber intake was positively associated with telomere length (z score), specifically cereal fiber, with an increase of 0.19 units between the lowest and highest quintiles (P = 0.007, P for trend = 0.03). Although total fat intake was not associated with telomere length, polyunsaturated fatty acid intake (-0.26 units, quintile 5 compared with quintile 1: P = 0.002, P for trend = 0.02), specifically linoleic acid intake, was inversely associated with telomere length after multivariate adjustment (-0.32 units; P = 0.001, P for trend = 0.05). Waist circumference was inversely associated with telomere length [0.15-unit difference in z score in a comparison of the highest (> or = 32 in, 81.28 cm) with the lowest (< or = 28 in, 71.12 cm) category (P = 0.01, P for trend = 0.02) in the multivariate model]. We found no association between telomere length and smoking, physical activity, or postmenopausal hormone use.
Although the strength of the associations was modest in this population of middle- and older-age women, our results support the hypothesis that body composition and dietary factors are related to leukocyte telomere length, which is a potential biomarker of chronic disease risk.
白细胞端粒长度与衰老相关疾病有关，但对饮食和生活方式因素对白细胞端粒长度的影响知之甚少。
本研究旨在探讨女性白细胞端粒长度与饮食、人体成分和生活方式因素之间的横断面关系。
2284 名女性参加者来自护士健康研究，作为癌症生物预测因子研究的对照被选中。通过问卷调查评估饮食、生活方式和人体测量数据。采用实时定量聚合酶链反应法检测白细胞端粒长度。
经多变量调整后，膳食纤维摄入量与端粒长度（z 评分）呈正相关，特别是谷物纤维，最低五分位组与最高五分位组之间相差 0.19 个单位（P = 0.007，趋势检验 P = 0.03）。总脂肪摄入量与端粒长度无关，但多不饱和脂肪酸摄入量（第 5 五分位组与第 1 五分位组相比，-0.26 个单位：P = 0.002，趋势检验 P = 0.02），特别是亚油酸摄入量，经多变量调整后与端粒长度呈负相关（-0.32 个单位；P = 0.001，趋势检验 P = 0.05）。腰围与端粒长度呈负相关[最高（>或=32 英寸，81.28 厘米）与最低（<或=28 英寸，71.12 厘米）腰围类别相比，z 评分差异为 0.15 个单位（P = 0.01，趋势检验 P = 0.02）]。我们没有发现端粒长度与吸烟、体力活动或绝经后激素使用之间存在关联。
尽管在这群年龄较大的中年女性中，这些关联的强度不大，但我们的研究结果支持了这样一种假设，即身体成分和饮食因素与白细胞端粒长度有关，白细胞端粒长度是慢性疾病风险的潜在生物标志物。
