Department of Medicine and Therapeutics, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
Department of Psychiatry, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
Gerontology. 2023;69(12):1414-1423. doi: 10.1159/000534644. Epub 2023 Oct 19.
Telomere length (TL) is generally regarded as a biomarker of aging. TL, which is influenced by sociodemographic factors, has been shown to be inversely associated with morbidity. However, most studies examined the youngest, and whether the findings can be extended to older individuals is less clear. Further, few studies have examined these questions in Chinese older adults. This cross-sectional study examined TL and its associated factors in Chinese aged 75+ years in Hong Kong.
Participants were from the Mr. and Ms. Osteoporosis cohort. A structured interview on sociodemographic factors and physical measurement was conducted. Frailty and sarcopenia status were respectively determined by Fried's criteria and the Asian Working Group for Sarcopenia definition. TL was measured by a molecular inversion probe-quantitative PCR assay and expressed as a novel telomere/a single copy reference gene (T/S) ratio. Adjusted binary logistic regressions were used to examine the associations between TL and the presence of multimorbidity, age-related diseases, frailty, and sarcopenia.
Among 555 participants (mean age 83.6 ± 3.8 years, 41.3% females), the mean T/S ratio was 1.01 ± 0.20. Males had a lower T/S ratio (0.97 ± 0.20) compared with females (1.07 ± 0.18) (p < 0.001). A lower education level was related to a longer TL (p = 0.016). Being a current smoker was related to a shorter TL (p = 0.007). TL was not significantly different across categories of age, subjective socioeconomic status, drinking status, physical activity level, and body mass index (p > 0.05). There were no associations between TL and the presence of multimorbidity, diabetes, stroke, cardiovascular diseases, cognitive impairment, frailty, and sarcopenia.
Among Chinese aged 75+ years, males had shorter TL compared with females. TL was not associated with age-related diseases, frailty, and sarcopenia in this age group. TL may not be a biological marker of aging among older individuals.
端粒长度（TL）通常被视为衰老的生物标志物。TL 受社会人口因素的影响，与发病率呈负相关。然而，大多数研究都检查了最年轻的人群，这些发现是否可以扩展到年龄较大的人群尚不清楚。此外，很少有研究在中国老年人中研究这些问题。本横断面研究检查了香港 75 岁以上老年人的 TL 及其相关因素。
参与者来自骨质疏松症先生和女士队列。进行了社会人口因素和身体测量的结构化访谈。使用弗莱德标准分别确定衰弱和肌肉减少症状态。通过分子反转探针-定量 PCR 测定法测量 TL，并表示为新型端粒/单个拷贝参考基因（T/S）比值。使用调整后的二元逻辑回归检查 TL 与多种合并症、与年龄相关的疾病、衰弱和肌肉减少症之间的关系。
在 555 名参与者中（平均年龄 83.6 ± 3.8 岁，41.3%为女性），平均 T/S 比值为 1.01 ± 0.20。男性的 T/S 比值（0.97 ± 0.20）低于女性（1.07 ± 0.18）（p < 0.001）。较低的教育水平与较长的 TL 相关（p = 0.016）。目前吸烟与较短的 TL 相关（p = 0.007）。TL 在年龄、主观社会经济地位、饮酒状况、体力活动水平和体重指数（p > 0.05）的类别之间无显著差异。TL 与多种合并症、糖尿病、中风、心血管疾病、认知障碍、衰弱和肌肉减少症的存在之间无关联。
在 75 岁以上的中国人中，男性的 TL 短于女性。TL 与该年龄组的与年龄相关的疾病、衰弱和肌肉减少症无关。TL 可能不是老年个体衰老的生物学标志物。
