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Telomere length of subcutaneous adipose tissue cells is shorter in obese and formerly obese subjects

International Journal of Obesity volume 34, pages 1345–1348 (2010)Cite this article

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Abstract

Obesity and increased fat mass are associated with increased adipocyte proliferation. Telomere length can serve as a biomarker of a cell's biological (vs chronological) age. To gain insight in the physiology of adipose tissue, we aimed to investigate telomere length in subcutaneous adipose tissue in relation to age and obesity. Telomere length was measured in 72 subcutaneous adipose tissue samples from 21 nonobese and 51 obese subjects. Telomere length of subcutaneous adipose tissue cells was negatively associated with body mass index (BMI), systolic blood pressure and fasting triglycerides. After controlling for age, fasting glucose, triglycerides and smoking status, BMI (P=0.009) contributed independently to 16% of telomere length variance. Interestingly, formerly obese patients (n=10) had shorter telomere length than never-obese subjects (n=12) of similar age, sex and BMI (7.1±1.3 vs 9.08±1.8 kb, P=0.01). In summary, adipose tissue cells from obese subjects show a shorter telomere length. The shorter telomere length of formerly obese subjects suggests that this is an established, irreversible feature of obesity that could contribute to its comorbidities.

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Acknowledgements

This work was partially supported by research grants from the Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia (SAF2008-0273). We acknowledge the technical assistance of Gerard Pardo and clinical help of Oscar Rovira. José Manuel Fernández-Real and José María Moreno-Navarrete had full access to all the data in the study and take responsibility for the integrity of the data and the accuracy of the data analysis.

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  1. Department of Diabetes, Endocrinology and Nutrition, Institut d'Investigació Biomédica de Girona, CIBER Fisiopatología de la Obesidad y Nutrición CB06/03/010, Girona, Spain

    J M Moreno-Navarrete, F Ortega, M Sabater, W Ricart & J M Fernández-Real

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  1. J M Moreno-Navarrete
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  2. F Ortega
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  3. M Sabater
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  4. W Ricart
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  5. J M Fernández-Real
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Correspondence to J M Fernández-Real.

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Supplementary Information accompanies the paper on International Journal of Obesity website

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Moreno-Navarrete, J., Ortega, F., Sabater, M. et al. Telomere length of subcutaneous adipose tissue cells is shorter in obese and formerly obese subjects. Int J Obes 34, 1345–1348 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1038/ijo.2010.49

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/ijo.2010.49

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