MOE Key Lab of Environment and Health, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430030, China.
Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430030, China.
J Bone Miner Metab. 2019 Nov;37(6):1004-1012. doi: 10.1007/s00774-019-01004-0. Epub 2019 Apr 20.
Critically short telomeres indicate cellular senescence. Leukocyte telomere length (LTL) is regarded as an aging predictor. Osteoporosis is an age-related disease. The purpose of our study is to examine the association between LTL, and BMD and osteoporosis among an elderly Chinese population. A total of 1017 participants (584 postmenopausal women) with a mean age of 66.4 years were recruited from April 2016 to August 2017. Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry was used for BMD measurement at skeleton sites of lumbar spine (LS), femoral neck (FN), and total hip (TH). LTL was measured using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction. Among women, age significantly modified the effect of LTL on BMD at FN. Additionally, significant age modification was observed for the association between LTL and LS BMD category (indicative of control or osteopenia or osteoporosis), and the number of osteoporotic sites at LS or TH. The corresponding estimates (95% CI) for the relative excess risk due to interaction (RERI) were - 0.07 (- 0.11, - 0.01) and - 0.11 (- 0.16, - 0.03) sequentially in ordinal logistic regression models. The estimated RERIs (95% CI) were - 0.11 (- 0.25, - 0.02) and - 0.23 (- 0.39, - 0.10) in multinomial logistic regression models for LS/FN/TH BMD category, and - 0.20 (- 0.31, - 0.09) and - 0.34 (- 0.49, - 0.21) for FN BMD category. However, similar findings did not show in men. The effect of LTL on BMD and osteoporosis risk is modified by age in elderly women but not in men, suggesting that the predictive role of LTL in bone loss differs by sex.
端粒显著缩短表明细胞衰老。白细胞端粒长度（LTL）被认为是衰老的预测指标。骨质疏松症是一种与年龄相关的疾病。我们的研究目的是探讨端粒长度与中国老年人群的骨密度（BMD）和骨质疏松症之间的关系。我们招募了 1017 名参与者（584 名绝经后妇女），他们的平均年龄为 66.4 岁，从 2016 年 4 月到 2017 年 8 月进行研究。使用双能 X 射线吸收法测量腰椎（LS）、股骨颈（FN）和全髋关节（TH）的骨骼部位的 BMD。使用实时定量聚合酶链反应测量端粒长度。在女性中，年龄显著改变了端粒长度对 FN 处 BMD 的影响。此外，在端粒长度与 LS BMD 类别（表示正常、骨质减少或骨质疏松）之间的关联以及 LS 或 TH 处骨质疏松部位数量之间也观察到显著的年龄修正。序贯有序逻辑回归模型中的相对超额风险比（RERI）的相应估计值（95%CI）为-0.07（-0.11，-0.01）和-0.11（-0.16，-0.03）。在 LS/FN/TH BMD 类别和 FN BMD 类别的多项逻辑回归模型中，估计的 RERI（95%CI）分别为-0.11（-0.25，-0.02）和-0.23（-0.39，-0.10）和-0.20（-0.31，-0.09）和-0.34（-0.49，-0.21）。然而，在男性中并未发现类似的发现。在老年女性中，端粒长度对 BMD 和骨质疏松症风险的影响受年龄影响，但在男性中则不受影响，这表明端粒长度在骨丢失中的预测作用因性别而异。
