Telomeres are shorter in Portuguese obese adults
Obesity is a clinical condition characterized by an abnormal accumulation of adipose tissue with an increased risk of developing illnesses such as type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and cancer. In obesity, the secretion of proinflammatory adipokines contributes to oxidative stress that can lea...
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| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2024-10-01
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| Series: | Journal of Mind and Medical Sciences |
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| Online Access: | https://scholar.valpo.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1483&context=jmms |
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| author | Catarina Duarte Maria Teresa Braz Ana Marques-Ramos José Silva-Nunes Luisa Veiga Miguel Brito |
| author_facet | Catarina Duarte Maria Teresa Braz Ana Marques-Ramos José Silva-Nunes Luisa Veiga Miguel Brito |
| author_sort | Catarina Duarte |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Obesity is a clinical condition characterized by an abnormal accumulation of adipose tissue with an increased risk of developing illnesses such as type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and cancer. In obesity, the secretion of proinflammatory adipokines contributes to oxidative stress that can lead to a decline in the length of telomeres. Telomeres are structures of repetitive sequences delimiting the chromosomes, that plays a crucial role in maintaining their integrity and stability and, thus, its shortening is associated with cellular senescence and possible apoptosis. Although some studies indicate that obesity is associated with shorter telomeres, others contradict this data. Accordingly, the aim of our study was to determine whether obesity is associated with telomere shortening in Portuguese obese adults. For that, we collected buccal epithelial cells from 72 obese (Body Mass Index (BMI) greater than 30 kg / m2) and 74 norm weight individuals (BMI between 18.5 kg / m2 and 24.99 kg / m2) and determine telomere length through Real Time PCR. Results revealed that the relative telomere length of obese individuals is statistically significantly shorter than that of control non-obese group. By comparing obese subgroups, it was possible to observe that in the female subgroup the relative length of telomeres was shorter, in opposition to the male obese group, which indicates that the association between high BMI and shorter telomeres is genre-dependent. Furthermore, by studying the telomere length by age it was observed that there was no difference in the relative telomere length in obese under versus over 45 years old, demonstrating an age-independent association between obesity and telomere length. Accordingly, our results suggest that obesity is associated with telomeres shortening, and that this could be used as biomarker in obesity. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-5f1c30c269514439b78f73fa184e9983 |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2392-7674 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-10-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Mind and Medical Sciences |
| spelling | doaj-art-5f1c30c269514439b78f73fa184e99832025-08-20T02:05:49ZengMDPI AGJournal of Mind and Medical Sciences2392-76742024-10-0111238138710.22543/2392-7674.1483Telomeres are shorter in Portuguese obese adultsCatarina Duarte0Maria Teresa Braz1Ana Marques-Ramos2José Silva-Nunes3Luisa Veiga4Miguel Brito5IPOLFG – Instituto Português de Oncologia de Lisboa Francisco GentilInstituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de LisboaH&TRC-Health & Technology Research Center, ESTeSL- Escola Superior de Tecnologia da Saúde, Instituto Politécnico de LisboaH&TRC-Health & Technology Research Center, ESTeSL- Escola Superior de Tecnologia da Saúde, Instituto Politécnico de LisboaH&TRC-Health & Technology Research Center, ESTeSL- Escola Superior de Tecnologia da Saúde, Instituto Politécnico de LisboaH&TRC-Health & Technology Research Center, ESTeSL- Escola Superior de Tecnologia da Saúde, Instituto Politécnico de LisboaObesity is a clinical condition characterized by an abnormal accumulation of adipose tissue with an increased risk of developing illnesses such as type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and cancer. In obesity, the secretion of proinflammatory adipokines contributes to oxidative stress that can lead to a decline in the length of telomeres. Telomeres are structures of repetitive sequences delimiting the chromosomes, that plays a crucial role in maintaining their integrity and stability and, thus, its shortening is associated with cellular senescence and possible apoptosis. Although some studies indicate that obesity is associated with shorter telomeres, others contradict this data. Accordingly, the aim of our study was to determine whether obesity is associated with telomere shortening in Portuguese obese adults. For that, we collected buccal epithelial cells from 72 obese (Body Mass Index (BMI) greater than 30 kg / m2) and 74 norm weight individuals (BMI between 18.5 kg / m2 and 24.99 kg / m2) and determine telomere length through Real Time PCR. Results revealed that the relative telomere length of obese individuals is statistically significantly shorter than that of control non-obese group. By comparing obese subgroups, it was possible to observe that in the female subgroup the relative length of telomeres was shorter, in opposition to the male obese group, which indicates that the association between high BMI and shorter telomeres is genre-dependent. Furthermore, by studying the telomere length by age it was observed that there was no difference in the relative telomere length in obese under versus over 45 years old, demonstrating an age-independent association between obesity and telomere length. Accordingly, our results suggest that obesity is associated with telomeres shortening, and that this could be used as biomarker in obesity. https://scholar.valpo.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1483&context=jmmsobesitytelomeresrelative lengthbody mass index |
| spellingShingle | Catarina Duarte Maria Teresa Braz Ana Marques-Ramos José Silva-Nunes Luisa Veiga Miguel Brito Telomeres are shorter in Portuguese obese adults Journal of Mind and Medical Sciences obesity telomeres relative length body mass index |
| title | Telomeres are shorter in Portuguese obese adults |
| title_full | Telomeres are shorter in Portuguese obese adults |
| title_fullStr | Telomeres are shorter in Portuguese obese adults |
| title_full_unstemmed | Telomeres are shorter in Portuguese obese adults |
| title_short | Telomeres are shorter in Portuguese obese adults |
| title_sort | telomeres are shorter in portuguese obese adults |
| topic | obesity telomeres relative length body mass index |
| url | https://scholar.valpo.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1483&context=jmms |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT catarinaduarte telomeresareshorterinportugueseobeseadults AT mariateresabraz telomeresareshorterinportugueseobeseadults AT anamarquesramos telomeresareshorterinportugueseobeseadults AT josesilvanunes telomeresareshorterinportugueseobeseadults AT luisaveiga telomeresareshorterinportugueseobeseadults AT miguelbrito telomeresareshorterinportugueseobeseadults |