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Ahmad S, Heraclides A, Sun Q, Elgzyri T, Rönn T, Ling C, Isomaa B, Eriksson KF, Groop L, Franks PW, Hansson O. Telomere length in blood and skeletal muscle in relation to measures of glycaemia and insulinaemia. Diabet Med 2012; 29:e377-81. [PMID: 22747879 PMCID: PMC3698879 DOI: 10.1111/j.1464-5491.2012.03737.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
AIMS Skeletal muscle is a major metabolic organ and plays important roles in glucose metabolism, insulin sensitivity and insulin action. Muscle telomere length reflects the myocyte's exposure to harmful environmental factors. Leukocyte telomere length is considered a marker of muscle telomere length and is used in epidemiologic studies to assess associations with ageing-related diseases where muscle physiology is important. However, the extent to which leucocyte and muscle telomere length are correlated is unknown, as are their relative correlations with glucose and insulin concentrations. The purpose of this study was to determine the extent of these relationships. METHODS Leucocyte and muscle telomere length were measured by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction in participants from the Malmö Exercise Intervention (n = 27) and the Prevalence, Prediction and Prevention of Diabetes-Botnia studies (n = 31). Participants in both studies were free from Type 2 diabetes. We assessed the association between leucocyte telomere length, muscle telomere length and metabolic traits using Spearmen correlations and multivariate linear regression. Bland-Altman analysis was used to assess agreement between leucocyte and muscle telomere length. RESULTS In age-, study-, diabetes family history- and sex-adjusted models, leucocyte and muscle telomere length were positively correlated (r = 0.39, 95% CI 0.15-0.59). Leucocyte telomere length was inversely associated with 2-h glucose concentrations (r = -0.58, 95% CI -1.0 to -0.16), but there was no correlation between muscle telomere length and 2-h glucose concentrations (r = 0.05, 95% CI -0.35 to 0.46) or between leucocyte or muscle telomere length with other metabolic traits. CONCLUSIONS In summary, the current study supports the use of leucocyte telomere length as a proxy for muscle telomere length in epidemiological studies of Type 2 diabetes aetiology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shafqat Ahmad
- Genetic and Molecular Epidemiology Unit, Lund University Diabetes Center, Department of Clinical Sciences, Skåne University Hospital, Lund University, Malmö, Sweden
| | - Alexandros Heraclides
- Genetic and Molecular Epidemiology Unit, Lund University Diabetes Center, Department of Clinical Sciences, Skåne University Hospital, Lund University, Malmö, Sweden
| | - Qi Sun
- Department of Nutrition, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA
- Channing Laboratory, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA
| | - Targ Elgzyri
- Diabetes and Endocrinology Unit, Lund University Diabetes Center, Department of Clinical Sciences, Skåne University Hospital, Lund University, Malmö, Sweden
| | - Tina Rönn
- Epigenetics Unit, Lund University Diabetes Center, Department of Clinical Sciences, Skåne University Hospital, Lund University, Malmö, Sweden
| | - Charlotte Ling
- Epigenetics Unit, Lund University Diabetes Center, Department of Clinical Sciences, Skåne University Hospital, Lund University, Malmö, Sweden
| | - Bo Isomaa
- Folkhälsan Research Center, Östanpävagen 32, 68660 Jakobstad, Finland
- Department of Social Services and Health Care, PB 111, 68601 Jakobstad, Finland
| | - Karl-Fredrik Eriksson
- Diabetes and Endocrinology Unit, Lund University Diabetes Center, Department of Clinical Sciences, Skåne University Hospital, Lund University, Malmö, Sweden
| | - Leif Groop
- Diabetes and Endocrinology Unit, Lund University Diabetes Center, Department of Clinical Sciences, Skåne University Hospital, Lund University, Malmö, Sweden
- Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland FIMM, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Paul W. Franks
- Genetic and Molecular Epidemiology Unit, Lund University Diabetes Center, Department of Clinical Sciences, Skåne University Hospital, Lund University, Malmö, Sweden
- Department of Nutrition, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA
| | - Ola Hansson
- Diabetes and Endocrinology Unit, Lund University Diabetes Center, Department of Clinical Sciences, Skåne University Hospital, Lund University, Malmö, Sweden
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