1. ¹ Department of Medical Biosciences, Pathology, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden
2. ²Department of Medicine, Sunderbyn Hospital, Luleå, Sweden
3. ³Department of Public Health and Clinical Medicine, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden
4. ⁴Department of Clinical Sciences Medicine, University Hospital, Malmö, Sweden

Correspondence: Katarina Nordfjäll (katarina.nordfjall@medbio.umu.se)

Received 8 February 2008; Accepted 5 June 2008; Published online 25 September 2008.

Abstract

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) and obesity have been coupled to short telomere length in peripheral blood. The biological background to this observation is not obvious from the literature. In this study we have analyzed a large set of known risk factors for CVD in relation to telomere length in blood cells on a merged cohort of 989 individuals recruited in the Malmö Diet and Cancer Cohort (MDCC) and the Northern Sweden MONICA project. We found a significant or borderline association between obesity parameters and telomere length in women after age and center adjustments (BMI: r = –0.106, P = 0.021, weight: r = –0.087, P = 0.060, waist circumference: r = –0.099, P = 0.032, hip circumference: r = –0.128, P = 0.005). In men, a positive borderline correlation to high-density lipoprotein (HDL) (r = 0.111, P = 0.053) and a negative correlation to 2-h post-oral glucose-tolerance test (OGTT) was observed (r = –0.202, P = 0.045). In neither group any association was found between telomere length and cholesterol, serum triglycerides, serum low-density lipoprotein, plasma insulin, blood pressure, pulse pressure, or smoking habits. Our data indicate that telomere length is associated with an "obesity-phenotype" but only in women.