ArticleInternational journal of obesity (2005)2012
Shorter telomeres are associated with obesity and weight gain in the elderly.
Article in International journal of obesity (2005), 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 59 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
59 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 112 citations in OpenAlex.
- Telomere Length and Pediatric Obesity: A Review.Genes · 2021Pooled it
- Body mass index is negatively associated with telomere length: a collaborative cross-sectional meta-analysis of 87 observational studies.The American journal of clinical nutrition · 2018Pooled it
- Stapleless vs Stapled Gastric Bypass vs Hypocaloric Diet: a Three-Arm Randomized Controlled Trial of Body Mass Evolution with Secondary Outcomes for Telomere Length and Metabolic Syndrome Changes.Obesity surgery · 2021Trial
- A Natural Product Telomerase Activator Lengthens Telomeres in Humans: A Randomized, Double Blind, and Placebo Controlled Study.Rejuvenation research · 2016Trial
- Longitudinal telomere length shortening and cognitive and physical decline in later life: The Lothian Birth Cohorts 1936 and 1921.Mechanisms of ageing and development · 2016Trial
- DXA-Measured Visceral Adipose Tissue and Accelerated Biological Aging in Middle-Aged Adults.Obesity (Silver Spring, Md.) · 2026Article
- The Interplay Between Obesity and Type 2 Diabetes: Common Pathophysiological Mechanisms Contributing to Telomere Shortening.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Effect of an 18-Month Meditation Training on Telomeres in Older Adults: A Secondary Analysis of the Age-Well Randomized Controlled Trial.Biological psychiatry global open science · 2025Article
- The fetal origins of metabolic health: exploring the association between newborn biological age and metabolism hormones in childhood.BMC medicine · 2024Article
- Pre-pregnancy BMI, gestational weight gain, and telomere length in amniotic fluid: a causal graph analysis.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Effects of Age and Biological Age-Determining Factors on Telomere Length in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Patients.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2024Article
- Study of association of leptin with leukocyte telomere length in a Chinese rural population.Lipids in health and disease · 2024Article
- The relationship between triglyceride, cholesterol and lipoprotein levels, and immune responses to hepatitis B vaccine.Frontiers in medicine · 2023Article
- Understanding the Impact of Obesity on Ageing in the Radiance of DNA Metabolism.The journal of nutrition, health & aging · 2023Review
- Longitudinal Association of Telomere Dynamics with Obesity and Metabolic Disorders in Young Children.Nutrients · 2022Article
- Nutrient intakes and telomere length of cell-free circulating DNA from amniotic fluid: findings from the Mamma & Bambino cohort.Scientific reports · 2022Article
- Influences of Long-Term Exercise and High-Fat Diet on Age-Related Telomere Shortening in Rats.Cells · 2022Article
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- The Relationship between Telomere Length and Gestational Weight Gain: Findings from the Mamma & Bambino Cohort.Biomedicines · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
10 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveObesity and shorter telomeres are commonly associated with elevated risk for age-related diseases and mortality. Whether telomere length (TL) may be associated with obesity or variations in adiposity is not well established. Therefore, we set out to test the hypothesis that TL may be a risk factor for increased adiposity using data from a large population-based cohort study.
designLevels of adiposity were assessed in six ways (obesity status, body mass index (BMI), the percentage of body fat or % body fat, leptin, visceral and subcutaneous fat mass) in 2721 elderly subjects (42% black and 58% white). Associations between TL measured in leukocytes at baseline and adiposity traits measured at baseline, and three of these traits after 7 years of follow-up were tested using regression models adjusting for important covariates. Additionally, we look at weight changes and relative changes in BMI and % body fat between baseline and follow-up.
resultsAt baseline, TL was negatively associated with % body fat (ß=-0.35±0.09, P=0.001) and subcutaneous fat (ß=-2.66±1.07, P=0.01), and positively associated with leptin after adjusting for % body fat (ß=0.32±0.14, P=0.001), but not with obesity, BMI or visceral fat. Prospective analyses showed that longer TL was associated with positive percent change between baseline and 7-year follow-up for both BMI (ß=0.48±0.20, P=0.01) and % body fat (ß=0.42±0.23, P=0.05).
conclusionOur study suggests that shorter TL may be a risk factor for increased adiposity. Coupling with previous reports on their reversed roles, the relationship between adiposity and TL may be complicated and may warrant more prospective studies.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.