Health Medicine Center, the Second Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, People's Republic of China.
Department of Medicine and Therapeutics, the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Prince of Wales Hospital, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, People's Republic of China.
J Affect Disord. 2025 Jan 15;369:195-201. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2024.09.138. Epub 2024 Sep 29.
Telomere length is a cellular aging marker implicated in various health outcomes. A growing body of evidence suggests a link between leukocyte telomere length (LTL) and mental health outcomes. However, there have been no studies focused on the relationship between LTL and the future risk of depression and anxiety. This study aimed to investigate the associations between LTL and depression/anxiety, examining both cross-sectional prevalence and prospective incidence.
Data from 364,331 UK Biobank participants were analyzed. LTL was measured at baseline, and mental health status was assessed through hospital records and online surveys. Logistic regression and Cox proportional hazards models were employed for cross-sectional and prospective analyses with appropriate adjustment, respectively.
The mean (SD) age of the subjects was 57.03 (13.34) years and follow-up duration was 8.80 (5.39) years. Cross-sectionally, shorter LTL was associated with increased odds of depression (OR: 1.401, 95 % CI: 1.291-1.521) and anxiety (1.347 (1.198-1.515)) at baseline, which remained significant after adjustment. Among those free of depression/anxiety at baseline, baseline shorter LTL was associated with a higher risk of incident depression (HR: 1.615, 95 % CI: 1.447-1.803) and anxiety (1.430 (1.293-1.581)) during follow-up period. These associations remained robust after adjusting for various covariates.
Our findings indicated an association between shorter telomeres and an increased risk of prevalent depression/anxiety and shorter telomeres precede the onset of these mental health conditions. Considering the potential clinical implications, our study underscores the relevance of LTL as a predictive tool for identifying individuals at risk of developing depression and anxiety.
端粒长度是一种与多种健康结果相关的细胞衰老标志物。越来越多的证据表明白细胞端粒长度（LTL）与心理健康结果之间存在联系。然而，目前还没有研究关注 LTL 与未来抑郁和焦虑风险之间的关系。本研究旨在调查 LTL 与抑郁/焦虑之间的关联，同时检查横断面患病率和前瞻性发病率。
分析了 364331 名英国生物库参与者的数据。在基线时测量 LTL，通过医院记录和在线调查评估心理健康状况。分别使用逻辑回归和 Cox 比例风险模型进行横断面和前瞻性分析，并进行适当调整。
受试者的平均（SD）年龄为 57.03（13.34）岁，随访时间为 8.80（5.39）年。横断面分析显示，较短的 LTL 与基线时抑郁（OR：1.401，95%CI：1.291-1.521）和焦虑（1.347（1.198-1.515））的患病风险增加相关，调整后仍具有统计学意义。在基线时无抑郁/焦虑的人群中，较短的 LTL 与基线后发生抑郁（HR：1.615，95%CI：1.447-1.803）和焦虑（1.430（1.293-1.581））的风险增加相关。在调整了各种协变量后，这些关联仍然稳健。
我们的研究结果表明，端粒较短与普遍存在的抑郁/焦虑风险增加有关，并且端粒较短先于这些心理健康状况的发生。考虑到潜在的临床意义，我们的研究强调了 LTL 作为识别易患抑郁和焦虑个体的预测工具的相关性。
