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Longitudinal association of telomere length and obesity indices in an intervention study with a Mediterranean diet: the PREDIMED-NAVARRA trial

International Journal of Obesity volume 38, pages 177–182 (2014)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

Background:

Telomeres are nucleoprotein structures that protect the ends of eukaryote chromosomes. Shorter telomere length (TL) is associated with some age-related human disorders, but its relationship with obesity or adiposity parameters remains unclear.

Objective:

The aim of this study was to assess the relationship between TL and changes in adiposity indices after a 5-year nutritional intervention.

Design and subjects:

TL was measured by quantitative real-time PCR in 521 subjects (55–80 years, 55% women). Participants were randomly selected from the PREDIMED-NAVARRA centre after they completed a 5-year intervention programme. Anthropometric parameters were directly measured by trained personnel at baseline and on a yearly basis thereafter. TL at baseline and changes in TL after a 5-year intervention were assessed.

Results:

Higher baseline TL significantly predicted a greater decrease in body weight (B=−1.09 kg, 95% confidence interval (CI): −2.01 to −0.16), body mass index (BMI) (B=−0.47 kg m−2, 95% CI: −0.83 to −0.11), waist circumference (B=−1.15 cm, 95% CI: −2.28 to −0.01) and waist to height ratio (B=−0.008, 95% CI: −0.010 to −0.001) in multiple-adjusted models. In addition, changes in TL during the 5-year intervention were inversely associated with changes in the four anthropometric variables. The reduction in adiposity indices during the intervention, associated with increasing TL, was even higher among subjects with the longest telomeres at baseline. Logistic regression analysis showed that the risk of remaining obese after 5 years was lower in those participants who initially had the longest telomeres and increased their TL after intervention (odds ratio=0.27, 95% CI: 0.03–2.03).

Conclusions:

Our research suggests that TL is inversely associated with changes in obesity parameters. The assessment of TL can provide further insights for biological pathways leading to adiposity. We show for the first time an improvement of obesity indices when an increase in TL is observed after a 5-year Mediterranean diet intervention.

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Acknowledgements

Research relating to this work was funded by grants from Línea Especial, Nutrición, Obesidad y Salud of the University of Navarra (LE/97), the Spanish Government (FIS-ISCIII: PI050976, PI070240, PI081943, PI1002293, RTIC 06/0045, CIBERobn, CNIC/06 and SAF-2010-20367) and the Government of Navarra (PI41/2005, PI79/2006, PI36/2008 and PI54/2009). The FPU fellowships to Sonia García-Calzón and to Alfredo Gea from the Spanish Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport are fully acknowledged. We thank all the participants in the trial for their enthusiastic and maintained collaboration, the personnel of the primary care centres from Navarra and other investigators of the PREDIMED group: Salas-Salvadó J, Estruch R, Covas MI, Fiol M, Ros E, Aros F, Gomez-Gracia E, Ruiz-Gutierrez V, Warnberg J, Saez G, Lapetra J, Serra-Majem L, Pinto L, Tur JA, Mitjavila MT, Portillo MP, Basora J, Fernandez-Crehuet J, Muñoz MA and Tello S. University of Navarra, Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health, Pamplona, Spain: Toledo E, Sánchez-Tainta A, Sanjulián, Goñi E, Marques M, García-Arellano A, Zazpe I, Basterra-Gortari J, Martínez-Lapiscina EH and Buil-Cosiales P. University of Navarra, Primary Care Centres, Pamplona, Spain: Serrano-Martínez M, Díez-Espino J, Ortuño N, Berrade N, Extremera-Urabayen V, Arroyo-Azpa C, García-Pérez L, Villanueva Tellería J, Cortés Ugalde F, Sagredo Arce T, García de la Noceda Montoy M D, Vigata López M D, Arceiz Campo M T, Urtasun Samper A, Gueto Rubio M V and Churio Beraza B. We gratefully acknowledge technical assistance by Idoia Rodríguez and Mikel Alguacil.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Nutrition, Food Science and Physiology, University of Navarra, Pamplona, Spain

    S García-Calzón, J A Martínez & A Marti

  2. Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health, University of Navarra, Pamplona, Spain

    A Gea & M A Martínez-González

  3. Division of Neurosciences, Neurogenetics Laboratory, Centre for Applied Medical Research, University of Navarra, Pamplona, Spain

    C Razquin

  4. CIBER Fisiopatología de la Obesidad y Nutrición (CIBERobn), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Spain

    D Corella, R M Lamuela-Raventós, J A Martínez, M A Martínez-González & A Marti

  5. Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health, University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain

    D Corella

  6. Department of Nutrition and Bromatology, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain

    R M Lamuela-Raventós

  7. Department of Biochemistry and Genetic, University of Navarra, Pamplona, Spain

    G Zalba

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  1. S García-Calzón
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Correspondence to A Marti.

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García-Calzón, S., Gea, A., Razquin, C. et al. Longitudinal association of telomere length and obesity indices in an intervention study with a Mediterranean diet: the PREDIMED-NAVARRA trial. Int J Obes 38, 177–182 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/ijo.2013.68

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Keywords

  • telomere length
  • adiposity
  • aging
  • nutritional intervention

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