Department of Health Promotion, Education, & Behavior, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC United States.
Department of Health Promotion, Education, & Behavior, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC United States.
Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2019 May;103:163-172. doi: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2019.01.022. Epub 2019 Jan 22.
The objective of the present study is to synthesize the existing empirical literature and perform a meta-analysis of published data on the relationship between cortisol and telomere length. We systematically searched studies that examined the relationship between cortisol and telomere length in humans on electronic databases and screened reference sections of included articles. Fourteen studies were included in the meta-analysis, with effect sizes being extracted for two cortisol measures: basal cortisol levels and cortisol reactivity to acute psychological stress. Results from random effects models showed that basal cortisol levels (13 effect sizes from 12 cross-sectional studies, N = 3675 participants) were not significantly correlated with telomere length (r =-0.05, 95% CI [-0.11, 0.02]). Further, results stratified by the specimen type for cortisol measurement (i.e., saliva, urine, blood) showed that none of the three basal cortisol level measures were correlated with telomere length. However, we found a statistically significant correlation between salivary cortisol reactivity to acute psychosocial stress (6 cross-sectional studies, N = 958 participants) and telomere length (r = -0.13, 95% CI [-0.23, -0.03]). Subgroup analyses revealed that correlations between salivary cortisol reactivity and telomere length were more evident in studies conducted among children (vs. adults) and in studies that included female participants only (vs. both genders). However, the small number of available studies limits the conclusions derived from subgroup analyses, and more studies are needed before moderator effects can be properly established. Overall, findings of this study support the existence of a relationship between cortisol reactivity and telomere shortening.
本研究旨在综合现有实证文献，并对已发表的皮质醇与端粒长度关系的研究数据进行荟萃分析。我们系统地检索了电子数据库中检查人类皮质醇与端粒长度之间关系的研究，并筛选了纳入文章的参考文献部分。有 14 项研究纳入荟萃分析，提取了两种皮质醇测量值的效应大小：基础皮质醇水平和皮质醇对急性心理应激的反应性。随机效应模型的结果表明，基础皮质醇水平（来自 12 项横断面研究的 13 个效应量，N = 3675 名参与者）与端粒长度无显著相关性（r =-0.05，95%置信区间[-0.11，0.02]）。此外，根据皮质醇测量标本类型（即唾液、尿液、血液）进行分层的结果表明，三种基础皮质醇水平测量值均与端粒长度无相关性。然而，我们发现唾液急性心理社会应激反应性与端粒长度之间存在统计学上显著的相关性（6 项横断面研究，N = 958 名参与者）（r =-0.13，95%置信区间[-0.23，-0.03]）。亚组分析表明，唾液皮质醇反应性与端粒长度之间的相关性在儿童（与成人相比）和仅包括女性参与者的研究（与两性参与者相比）中更为明显。然而，可用研究数量有限限制了从亚组分析中得出的结论，并且需要更多的研究才能正确确定调节效应。总体而言，本研究的结果支持皮质醇反应性与端粒缩短之间存在关系。
