Evidence map›Paper›PMID 28712425›Full record

ArticleJournal of psychosomatic research2017

Telomere length is inversely correlated with urinary stress hormone levels in healthy controls but not in un-medicated depressed individuals-preliminary findings.

Brittany Fair, Synthia H Mellon, Elissa S Epel, Jue Lin, Dóra Révész, Josine E Verhoeven, Brenda W Penninx, Victor I Reus, Rebecca Rosser, Christina M Hough and 4 more

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PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of psychosomatic research, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
7citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
0.9field-weighted citation impact, top 25% of its field
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

7 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 10 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Article
  4. Review
  5. Review
  6. Article
  7. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

14 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.

Brittany FairDept. of Psychiatry, University of California, San Francisco, School of Medicine (UCSF), San Francisco, CA, USA; Dept. of Psychiatry, University of Vermont, The Robert Larner, M.D. College of Medicine, Burlington, VT, USA.
Synthia H MellonDept. of OB-GYN and Reproductive Sciences, UCSF, USA.
Elissa S EpelDept. of Psychiatry, University of California, San Francisco, School of Medicine (UCSF), San Francisco, CA, USA.
Jue LinDept. of Biochemistry and Biophysics, UCSF, USA.
Dóra RévészDept. of Psychiatry, EMGO Institute for Health and Care Institute, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Josine E VerhoevenDept. of Psychiatry, EMGO Institute for Health and Care Institute, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Brenda W PenninxDept. of Psychiatry, EMGO Institute for Health and Care Institute, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Victor I ReusDept. of Psychiatry, University of California, San Francisco, School of Medicine (UCSF), San Francisco, CA, USA.
Rebecca RosserDept. of Psychiatry, University of California, San Francisco, School of Medicine (UCSF), San Francisco, CA, USA.
Christina M HoughDept. of Psychiatry, University of California, San Francisco, School of Medicine (UCSF), San Francisco, CA, USA.
Laura MahanDept. of Psychiatry, University of California, San Francisco, School of Medicine (UCSF), San Francisco, CA, USA.
Heather M BurkeDept. of Psychiatry, University of California, San Francisco, School of Medicine (UCSF), San Francisco, CA, USA.
Elizabeth H BlackburnSalk Institute for Biological Sciences, La Jolla, CA, USA.
Owen M WolkowitzDept. of Psychiatry, University of California, San Francisco, School of Medicine (UCSF), San Francisco, CA, USA. Electronic address: owen.wolkowitz@ucsf.edu.
University of California, San Francisco · USEMGO Institute for Health and Care Research · NLSalk Institute for Biological Studies · US

Funding

UCSF CLINICAL AND TRANSLATIONAL SCIENCE INSTITUTEUL1RR024131 · NCRR · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO · PI JOHNSTON, S. CLAIBORNE · 2006 to 2011
$111.2M
Cell Aging in Major DepressionR01MH083784 · NIMH · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO · PI EPEL, ELISSA S., MELLON, SYNTHIA H · 2010 to 2020
$6.7M
NCRR NIH HHS UL1 RR024131NIMH NIH HHS R01 MH083784
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveLeukocyte telomere length (LTL) is a biomarker of cellular aging affected by chronic stress. The relationship of LTL to the stress hormones, cortisol and catecholamines, is unclear, as are possible differences between healthy controls (HC) and individuals with Major Depressive Disorder (MDD). This small pilot study is the first to examine the relationship between cortisol, catecholamines and LTL specifically in un-medicated MDD in comparison with HC.

methodsParticipants included 16 un-medicated MDD subjects and 15 HC for assay of LTL, 12-hour overnight urinary free cortisol and catecholamine levels.

resultsLTL, cortisol and catecholamine levels did not significantly differ between groups. In HC, a hierarchical regression analysis indicated that higher levels of cortisol were correlated with shorter LTL (p=0.003) above and beyond age and sex. Higher catecholamine levels were nearly-significant with shorter LTL (p=0.055). Neither hormone was correlated with shorter LTL in MDD (p's>0.28). To assess a possible cumulative effect of stress hormone activation, a summary score was calculated for each subject based on the number of stress hormone levels above the median for that group (HC or MDD). A significant inverse graded relationship was observed between LTL and the number of activated systems in HC (p=0.001), but not in MDD (p=0.96).

conclusionThis pilot study provides preliminary evidence that stress hormone levels, especially cortisol, are inversely related to LTL in HC, but not in un-medicated MDD. Clarification of these relationships in larger samples could aid in understanding differential mechanisms underlying stress-related cellular aging in healthy and depressed populations.

Indexed as

AdultAgedCellular SenescenceDepressionFemaleHealthy VolunteersHumansHydrocortisoneMaleMiddle AgedPilot ProjectsTelomereHydrocortisoneCatecholaminesCellular agingCortisolDepressionStress hormonesTelomere length

Identifiers

PMID28712425
PMCPMC5551436
OpenAlexW2624814529

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceTDM
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.