NUTRIM School for Nutrition, Toxicology and Metabolism, Department of Toxicology, Maastricht University Medical Centre+, Maastricht, The Netherlands.
Mech Ageing Dev. 2012 Jun;133(6):373-7. doi: 10.1016/j.mad.2012.04.003. Epub 2012 Apr 25.
The incidence of chronic diseases such as cardiovascular diseases is lower in Mediterranean Southern Europe than Northern Europe. This may be due to a lower level of oxidative stress and a higher antioxidant status in people living around the Mediterranean Sea. Oxidative stress may influence the rate of shortening of telomeres, the nucleoprotein structures at the ends of chromosomes. We compared leukocyte telomere length (LTL) in elderly men from Northern and Southern Europe and investigated the possible relationship between LTL and indicators of oxidative stress and antioxidant status. We examined 143 elderly Dutch men (mean age 83.9 years) and 109 Greek elderly men (mean age 84.6 years) and found that the Greek men had significantly longer telomeres (geometric mean 4.95 kbp, 95% confidence interval (CI): 4.71-5.23 kbp) compared to the men from the Netherlands (4.76 kbp, 95% CI: 4.55-4.98 kbp; P=0.001). Age was inversely associated with LTL (β=-0.10, P=0.31 in Cretan men and β=-0.19, P=0.02 in Dutch men). In all men LTL was not related to indicators of oxidative stress and plasma antioxidants. However, the endogenous antioxidants serum albumin (β=0.18, P=0.007) and uric acid (β=0.13, P=0.045) were positively associated with LTL. The age-adjusted difference between Crete and Zutphen was reduced by 25% after adjustment for serum albumin and uric acid. We conclude that Greek elderly men have significantly longer LTL compared to Dutch counterparts. The endogenous antioxidants albumin and uric acid were positively associated with longer telomeres.
地中海南欧的慢性疾病（如心血管疾病）发病率低于北欧。这可能是由于生活在地中海周围的人氧化应激水平较低和抗氧化状态较高。氧化应激可能会影响端粒缩短的速度，端粒是染色体末端的核蛋白结构。我们比较了北欧和南欧老年男性的白细胞端粒长度（LTL），并研究了 LTL 与氧化应激和抗氧化状态指标之间的可能关系。我们检查了 143 名荷兰老年男性（平均年龄 83.9 岁）和 109 名希腊老年男性（平均年龄 84.6 岁），发现希腊男性的端粒明显更长（几何平均值 4.95 kbp，95%置信区间（CI）：4.71-5.23 kbp）与荷兰男性相比（4.76 kbp，95%CI：4.55-4.98 kbp；P=0.001）。年龄与 LTL 呈负相关（在克里特男性中β=-0.10，P=0.31，在荷兰男性中β=-0.19，P=0.02）。在所有男性中，LTL 与氧化应激指标和血浆抗氧化剂均无关。然而，内源性抗氧化剂血清白蛋白（β=0.18，P=0.007）和尿酸（β=0.13，P=0.045）与 LTL 呈正相关。在调整血清白蛋白和尿酸后，克里特岛和祖特芬之间的年龄调整差异减少了 25%。我们的结论是，与荷兰男性相比，希腊老年男性的 LTL 明显更长。内源性抗氧化剂白蛋白和尿酸与较长的端粒呈正相关。
