Aiello A E, Jayabalasingham B, Simanek A M, Diez-Roux A, Feinstein L, Meier H C S, Needham B L, Dowd J B
Department of Epidemiology,Gillings School of Global Public Health, and the Carolina Population Center, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill,Chapel Hill, NC,USA.
Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics,CUNY School of Public Health, Hunter College, City University of New York,USA.
Epidemiol Infect. 2017 Oct;145(14):3076-3084. doi: 10.1017/S0950268817001881. Epub 2017 Sep 7.
Several infections have been linked to telomere shortening and in some cases these associations have varied by sex. We assessed the association between seropositivity to four persistent pathogens (cytomegalovirus (CMV), herpes simplex virus-1, Helicobacter pylori, Chlamydia pneumoniae), and total pathogen burden on leukocyte telomere length in a diverse US sample. Data came from the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis, a population-based cohort study. We utilized cross-sectional survey data, and biological samples from participants tested for pathogens and telomere length (N = 163). Linear regression was used to examine the association between seropositivity for individual pathogens as well as total pathogen burden and telomere length, adjusting for various confounders. CMV seropositivity and increased total pathogen burden level were significantly associated with shorter telomere length among females (β = -0·1204 (standard error (s.e.) 0·06), P = 0·044) and (β = -0·1057 (s.e. = 0·05), P = 0·033), respectively. There was no statistically significant association among males. Our findings suggest that prevention or treatment of persistent pathogens, in particular CMV, may play an important role in reducing telomere shortening over the life course among women. Future research is needed to confirm these novel findings in larger longitudinal samples.
几种感染已被发现与端粒缩短有关，在某些情况下，这些关联存在性别差异。我们在美国一个多样化的样本中评估了对四种持续性病原体（巨细胞病毒（CMV）、单纯疱疹病毒1型、幽门螺杆菌、肺炎衣原体）的血清阳性与白细胞端粒长度上的总病原体负担之间的关联。数据来自动脉粥样硬化多族裔研究，这是一项基于人群的队列研究。我们利用了横断面调查数据以及参与者检测病原体和端粒长度的生物样本（N = 163）。采用线性回归来检验个体病原体血清阳性以及总病原体负担与端粒长度之间的关联，并对各种混杂因素进行了调整。在女性中，CMV血清阳性和总病原体负担水平增加分别与较短的端粒长度显著相关（β = -0·1204（标准误（s.e.）0·06），P = 0·044）和（β = -0·1057（s.e. = 0·05），P = 0·033）。在男性中未发现具有统计学意义的关联。我们的研究结果表明，预防或治疗持续性病原体，特别是CMV，可能在减少女性一生中的端粒缩短方面发挥重要作用。未来需要在更大的纵向样本中证实这些新发现。
