ReviewNeuroscience and biobehavioral reviews2015
Psychiatric disorders and leukocyte telomere length: Underlying mechanisms linking mental illness with cellular aging.
Review in Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to 2 registered trials, which are not on this map. Cited by 147 papers, 10 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
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.
The Brain´s Plasticity and Change in Cellular Aging After Internet-delivered Cognitive Behavior Therapy for Social Anxiety Disorder
Do Omega-3 Fatty Acids Have an Antidepressant Effect in Patients With Signs of Peripheral Inflammation?
Who cites it
147 citing papers in PubMed, 10 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 286 citations in OpenAlex.
- Role of telomere length and telomerase activity in accelerated cellular aging and major depressive disorder: a systematic review.Molecular psychiatry · 2025Pooled it
- Leukocyte telomere length in patients with schizophrenia and related disorders: a meta-analysis of case-control studies.Molecular psychiatry · 2022Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Biological aging in childhood and adolescence following experiences of threat and deprivation: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Psychological bulletin · 2020Pooled it
- Adverse Childhood Experiences and Telomere Length a Look Into the Heterogeneity of Findings-A Narrative Review.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2019Pooled it
- Early life adversity and telomere length: a meta-analysis.Molecular psychiatry · 2018Pooled it
- The Association Between Psychiatric Disorders and Telomere Length: A Meta-Analysis Involving 14,827 Persons.Psychosomatic medicine · 2016Pooled it
- Meta-analysis of Telomere Length in Alzheimer's Disease.The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences · 2016Pooled it
- Perceived stress and telomere length: A systematic review, meta-analysis, and methodologic considerations for advancing the field.Brain, behavior, and immunity · 2016Pooled it
- The impact of text message reminders on cryotherapy uptake among women testing positive for HPV in western Kenya: a prospective cohort study.BMC women's health · 2024Trial
- Improvement in indices of cellular protection after psychological treatment for social anxiety disorder.Translational psychiatry · 2019Trial
- Association of nutraceutical supplements with longer telomere length.International journal of molecular medicine · 2019Trial
- Trial
- Circulating cell-free mitochondrial DNA, but not leukocyte mitochondrial DNA copy number, is elevated in major depressive disorder.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2018Trial
- Effects of Meditation and Music-Listening on Blood Biomarkers of Cellular Aging and Alzheimer's Disease in Adults with Subjective Cognitive Decline: An Exploratory Randomized Clinical Trial.Journal of Alzheimer's disease : JAD · 2018Trial
- Leukocyte telomere length and depression, anxiety and stress and adjustment disorders in primary health care patients.BMC psychiatry · 2017Trial
- Telomere length as a predictor of response to Pioglitazone in patients with unremitted depression: a preliminary study.Translational psychiatry · 2016Trial
- Pharmacological maintenance treatment in older age bipolar disorder.Current opinion in psychiatry · 2026Review
- The genetic relationship between ADHD and shortened telomeres points to neurodevelopmental mechanisms.Translational psychiatry · 2026Article
87 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
14 authors at 2 institutions in 4 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Many psychiatric illnesses are associated with early mortality and with an increased risk of developing physical diseases that are more typically seen in the elderly. Moreover, certain psychiatric illnesses may be associated with accelerated cellular aging, evidenced by shortened leukocyte telomere length (LTL), which could underlie this association. Shortened LTL reflects a cell's mitotic history and cumulative exposure to inflammation and oxidation as well as the availability of telomerase, a telomere-lengthening enzyme. Critically short telomeres can cause cells to undergo senescence, apoptosis or genomic instability, and shorter LTL correlates with poorer health and predicts mortality. Emerging data suggest that LTL may be reduced in certain psychiatric illnesses, perhaps in proportion to exposure to the psychiatric illnesses, although conflicting data exist. Telomerase has been less well characterized in psychiatric illnesses, but a role in depression and in antidepressant and neurotrophic effects has been suggested by preclinical and clinical studies. In this article, studies on LTL and telomerase activity in psychiatric illnesses are critically reviewed, potential mediators are discussed, and future directions are suggested. A deeper understanding of cellular aging in psychiatric illnesses could lead to re-conceptualizing them as systemic illnesses with manifestations inside and outside the brain and could identify new treatment targets.
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What OpenQuestion holds
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.