Mediation Effect of Platelet Traits on Associations of Central Obesity with Aging Biomarkers in Rural Adults of Henan, China.

BACKGROUND

To assess the associations of platelet traits and obesity indices with aging biomarkers (telomere length (TL) and mitochondrial DNA copy number (mtDNA-CN)).

METHODS

A cross-sectional study was performed among 5091 rural Chinese adults. Obesity indices (waist circumference (WC), waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) and waist-to-height ratio (WHtR)) and platelet traits (plateletcrit (PCT), platelet large cell ratio (P-LCR), mean platelet volume (MPV) and platelet distribution width (PDW)) were collected by physical examination. The aging biomarkers were determined by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction. Generalized linear regression models and mediation analysis were applied to explore the relationships between platelet traits, obesity indices, and aging biomarkers.

RESULTS

The mean age of the participants was 56 years (range: 18-79). Each one-unit increment in WC, WHR and WHtR were related to a 0.316 (95% confidence interval (CI): -0.437, -0.196), 0.323 (95% CI: -0.513, -0.134) and 0.277 (95% CI: -0.400, -0.153) decrease in relative TL; or a 0.102 (95% CI: -0.197, -0.007), 0.109 (95% CI: -0.258, -0.041) and 0.101 (95% CI: -0.199, -0.004) decrease in relative mtDNA-CN. The proportions of obesity indices with aging biomarkers mediated by platelet indices ranged from 2.85% to 10.10%.

CONCLUSIONS

Increased central obesity indices in relation to shortened relative TL or decreased mtDNA-CN were mediated by platelet traits, indicating that obesity in association with the accelerated aging process may be partially attributable to abnormal platelet activity.