ArticleSleep2019
Obstructive sleep apnea, nighttime arousals, and leukocyte telomere length: the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis.
Article in Sleep, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 34 papers, 1 of them a synthesis 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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
34 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 51 citations in OpenAlex.
- Effects of Intermittent Hypoxia in Training Regimes and in Obstructive Sleep Apnea on Aging Biomarkers and Age-Related Diseases: A Systematic Review.Frontiers in aging neuroscience · 2022Pooled it
- Telomere dynamics are influenced by sleep, sleep variability and circadian rhythms in older adults with or without alzheimer's risk.Alzheimer's research & therapy · 2025Trial
- Sleep and circadian rhythms in cardiovascular resilience: mechanisms, implications, and a Roadmap for research and interventions.Nature reviews. Cardiology · 2026Review
- Molecular markers, mechanisms and metrics of biological aging: a scoping review.Frontiers in aging · 2026Review
- Unveiling the role of EGR1 and hub senescence-related genes in type II alveolar epithelial cells senescence for obstructive sleep apnea.BMC biotechnology · 2025Article
- OSA and Accelerated Aging: An Overarching Pathway Driving End-Organ Morbidity and Mortality.Archivos de bronconeumologia · 2025Article
- Exploring Chronic Pain, Immune Dysfunction and Lifestyle: A Focus on T Cell Exhaustion and Senescence.Biomolecules · 2025Review
- Assessment of the causal association between obstructive sleep apnea and telomere length: a bidirectional mendelian randomization study.Frontiers in genetics · 2025Article
- A Comparative Investigation on Clinical Characteristics in Pediatric Obstructive Sleep Apnea Based on Two Distinct Guidelines.Nature and science of sleep · 2025Article
- Influence of sleep on physiological systems in atherosclerosis.Nature cardiovascular research · 2024Review
- Telomere length and chronotype among women in the California Teachers Study (CTS).Chronobiology international · 2024Article
- Stress Hormones: Unveiling the Role in Accelerated Cellular Senescence.Aging and disease · 2024Review
- Lateral parabrachial FoxP2 neurons regulate respiratory responses to hypercapnia.Nature communications · 2024Article
- White Matter Imaging Phenotypes Mediate the Negative Causality of Mitochondrial DNA Copy Number on Sleep Apnea: A Bidirectional Mendelian Randomization Study and Mediation Analysis.Nature and science of sleep · 2024Article
- Exploring the role of aging in the relationship between obstructive sleep apnea syndrome and osteoarthritis: Insights from NHANES data.Frontiers in medicine · 2024Article
- Article
- Common Sleep Disorders Affecting Older Adults.The Permanente journal · 2023Review
- The association between sleep quality and telomere length: A systematic literature review.Brain, behavior, & immunity - health · 2023Review
- Causal relationship between atrial fibrillation and leukocyte telomere length: A two sample, bidirectional Mendelian randomization study.Frontiers in cardiovascular medicine · 2023Article
- Genetic Variants of the TERT Gene and Telomere Length in Obstructive Sleep Apnea.Biomedicines · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
9 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
STUDY
objectivesSleep disturbances and sleep apnea are associated with increased vulnerability to age-related disease, altering molecular pathways affecting biological aging. Telomere length captures one component of biological aging. We evaluated whether objectively assessed sleep and sleep apnea relate to leukocyte telomere length (LTL) in the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA).
methodsMen and women aged 44-84 years (n = 672) from the MESA Stress and MESA Sleep studies underwent polysomnography and 7 day actigraphy (at Exam 5) and assessment of LTL (at baseline [Exam 1] and about 10 years later [Exam 5]).
resultsGeneral linear models adjusting for age, sex, race/ethnicity, BMI, physical activity, and smoking found that severe obstructive sleep apnea (OSA; apnea-hypopnea index > 30) was cross-sectionally associated with shorter LTL (p = 0.007). Modest associations of shorter LTL with less rapid eye movement sleep, more stage 1 sleep, wake after sleep onset >30 min, and long sleep duration were found, but these effects were diminished after adjusting for lifestyle and OSA. Exploratory analyses found that higher arousal index at Exam 5 was associated with greater LTL decline over the prior 10 years (p = 0.004).
conclusionsOSA was associated with shorter LTL. Individuals with high-arousal frequency had greater leukocyte telomere attrition over the prior decade. These findings suggest that sleep apnea and sleep fragmentation are associated with accelerated biological aging.
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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.