Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39864119›Full record

ArticlePsychoneuroendocrinology2025

Stress and telomere length in leukocytes: Investigating the role of GABRA6 gene polymorphism and cortisol.

Pablo Martino, Mario Perez-Alarcón, Luna Deconinck, Rudi De Raedt, Marie-Anne Vanderhasselt, Malgorzata W Kozusznik, Frank Kooy, Vanesa Hidalgo, César Venero, Alicia Salvador and 2 more

Erratum issuedAbstract read
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In one paragraph

Article in Psychoneuroendocrinology, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
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

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

12 authors.

Pablo MartinoBehavioral Science Research Laboratory, National University of San Luis, Argentina; National Scientific and Technical Research Council, Argentina.
Mario Perez-AlarcónDepartment of Psychobiology, University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain.
Luna DeconinckDepartment of Biomedical Sciences, University of Antwerp, Belgium.
Rudi De RaedtDepartment of Experimental Clinical and Health Psychology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium.
Marie-Anne VanderhasseltDepartment of Head and Skin, Ghent Experimental Psychiatry Lab, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium.
Malgorzata W KozusznikDepartment of Marketing, Innovation and Organization, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium; Research Group Organizational and Occupational Psychology and Professional Learning, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
Frank KooyDepartment of Biomedical Sciences, University of Antwerp, Belgium.
Vanesa HidalgoDepartment of Psychobiology, University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain; Department of Psychology and Sociology, University of Zaragoza, Zaragoza, Spain.
César VeneroCOGNI-UNED, Department of Psychobiology, Faculty of Psychology, UNED, Madrid, Spain; University Institute of Research-UNED-Institute of Health Carlos III (IMIENS), Madrid, Spain.
Alicia SalvadorDepartment of Psychobiology, University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain.
Chris BaekenDepartment of Head and Skin, Ghent Experimental Psychiatry Lab, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium; Department of Psychiatry, University Hospital UZ Brussel, Brussels, Belgium; Department of Electrical Engineering, Eindhoven University of Technology, Eindhoven, the Netherlands.
Matias M PulopulosDepartment of Experimental Clinical and Health Psychology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium. Electronic address: matias.pulopulos@ugent.be.

Funding

VECTOR CORE FACILITYP30CA047904 · NCI · UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH AT PITTSBURGH · PI Jessie Nedrow · 1988 to 2026
$158.0M
UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH CLINICAL AND TRANSLATIONAL SCIENCE INSTITUTE: BPCAUL1RR024153 · NCRR · UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH AT PITTSBURGH · PI REIS, STEVEN E · 2006 to 2011
$73.9M
University of Pittsburgh Clinical and Translational Science InstituteUL1TR000005 · NCATS · UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH AT PITTSBURGH · PI REIS, STEVEN E · 2012 to 2015
$50.8M
Social and psychological risk for infectious illnessR01AI066367 · NIAID · CARNEGIE-MELLON UNIVERSITY · PI COHEN, SHELDON A · 2005 to 2010
$2.8M
Social Ties and Health: Aggregating Data from Five Viral-Challenge TrialsR01AT006694 · NCCIH · CARNEGIE-MELLON UNIVERSITY · PI COHEN, SHELDON A · 2011 to 2015
$1.5M
Stress, Cellular Aging and Susceptibility to Infectious DiseaseRC1AT005799 · NCCIH · CARNEGIE-MELLON UNIVERSITY · PI COHEN, SHELDON A · 2009 to 2010
$448k
NCATS NIH HHS UL1 TR000005NCCIH NIH HHS R01 AT006694NCCIH NIH HHS RC1 AT005799NCI NIH HHS P30 CA047904NCRR NIH HHS UL1 RR024153NIAID NIH HHS R01 AI066367
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Telomere length (TL) is considered a biomarker of aging, and short TL in leukocytes is related to age and stress-related health problems. Cumulative lifetime stress exposure has also been associated with shorter TL and age-related health problems, but the mechanisms are not well understood. We tested in 108 individuals whether shorter TL in leukocytes is observed in individuals with the GABRA6 TT genotype, which has been associated with dysregulation of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis activity (the main biological stress system) compared to the CC genotype. We also investigated if individuals carrying the TT genotype show higher stress-induced and diurnal cortisol secretion and if cortisol explains the interindividual variability in TL. The analysis pipeline of this study was pre-registered, and the results showed that GABRA6 TT carriers had shorter TL in CD8+CD28+ cells (Bonferroni corrected). In contrast to previous studies, no differences between groups in cortisol secretion were observed, and TL and cortisol did not show significant associations. This study shows, for the first time, shorter TL in CD8+CD28+ cells in TT carriers for GABRA6 compared to CC carriers, suggesting accelerated cellular aging. Although this difference could be linked to an increased susceptibility to stress in the TT carriers, this could not be attributed to the direct influence of cortisol, suggesting the involvement of other mechanisms.

Indexed as

HydrocortisoneLeukocytesReceptors, GABA-AStress, PsychologicalTelomere HomeostasisAdultAgedAgingCellular SenescenceFemaleGenotypeHumansHypothalamo-Hypophyseal SystemMaleMiddle AgedPituitary-Adrenal SystemHydrocortisoneReceptors, GABA-ACortisolGABAGABRA6StressTelomere length

Identifiers

PMID39864119
PMCPMC11849805

What OpenQuestion holds

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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.