ArticleImmunity & ageing : I & A2020
Pathogen burden and leukocyte telomere length in the United States.
Article in Immunity & ageing : I & A, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 20 papers, 4 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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
20 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 36 citations in OpenAlex.
- Sero-epidemiological studies of pathogen burden: A scoping review.Wellcome open research · 2026Pooled it
- Infection and telomere length: A systematic review.PloS one · 2025Pooled it
- Maternal psychological stress during pregnancy and newborn telomere length: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC psychiatry · 2023Pooled it
- The Role of Herpes Viruses in Pulmonary Fibrosis.Frontiers in medicine · 2021Pooled it
- A Pathogen Penalty? Associations Between Persistent Infections and Biological Aging in the US.The Journal of infectious diseases · 2026Article
- Telomere Length and COVID-19 Severity: A Comparative Cross-Sectional Study Across the Clinical Spectrum.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Article
- Neurotropic Viruses as Acute and Insidious Drivers of Aging.Biomolecules · 2025Review
- Accelerated biological aging mediates the association between inflammatory markers with Helicobacter pylori infection and mortality.Journal of translational medicine · 2025Article
- The gut and circulating virome: emerging players in aging and longevity.Frontiers in aging · 2025Review
- Telomere length and COVID-19 disease severity: insights from hospitalized patients.Frontiers in aging · 2025Article
- Global research landscape of telomere biology in infectious diseases: mechanistic links between host-pathogen interactions and immune ageing.Frontiers in aging · 2025Review
- Association Between TTV Viremia, Chronic Inflammation, and Ischemic Heart Disease Risk: Insights From MARK-AGE and Report-Age Projects.The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences · 2024Article
- Infection and telomere length: a systematic review protocol.BMJ open · 2024Article
- Involvement of Inheritance in Determining Telomere Length beyond Environmental and Lifestyle Factors.Aging and disease · 2023Review
- Effect of Cytomegalovirus on the Immune System: Implications for Aging and Mental Health.Current topics in behavioral neurosciences · 2023Article
- Roles for Pathogen Interference in Influenza Vaccination, with Implications to Vaccine Effectiveness (VE) and Attribution of Influenza Deaths.Infectious disease reports · 2022Review
- Telomere fragility in radiology workers occupationally exposed to low doses of ionising radiation.Arhiv za higijenu rada i toksikologiju · 2022Article
- Stress and telomere shortening: Insights from cellular mechanisms.Ageing research reviews · 2022Review
- Genetic, Environmental and Lifestyle Determinants of Accelerated Telomere Attrition as Contributors to Risk and Severity of Multiple Sclerosis.Biomolecules · 2021Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
9 authors at 5 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundPrior studies in humans have suggested that telomere shortening may be accelerated by infection, but research on multiple pathogens and use of large population-based study samples has been limited. We estimated cross-sectional associations between seropositivity to five persistent pathogens (Herpes Simplex Virus Type-1 (HSV-1), Herpes Simplex Virus Type-2 (HSV-2), cytomegalovirus (CMV), Helicobacter pylori (H.pylori), and Hepatitis B) as well as total pathogen burden and leukocyte telomere length. Data were derived from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (1999-2000) for individuals 20-49 years of age, N = 1708. We analyzed the influence of each pathogen separately, a pathogen count score and a latent class model of pathogen burden on log telomere length using linear regression models, adjusted for covariates.
resultsIndividuals in a latent pathogen burden class characterized by high probabilities of infection with HSV-1, CMV, and H. pylori, had significantly decreased log telomere length (- 0.30 [95% CI: - 0.36, - 0.24]) compared to those in a latent class characterized by low probabilities of all five infections. There were limited significant associations using other pathogen measures.
conclusionsThese results suggest that infection with specific combinations of pathogens may be one mechanism contributing to accelerated cellular senescence with possible origins early in the life course.
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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.