C-peptide is a predictor of telomere shortening: A five-year longitudinal study

Racha Ghoussaini; Hani Tamim; Martine Elbejjani; Maha Makki; Lara Nasreddine; Hussain Ismaeel; Mona P Nasrallah; Nathalie K Zgheib

doi:10.3389/fendo.2022.978747

C-peptide is a predictor of telomere shortening: A five-year longitudinal study

Front Endocrinol (Lausanne). 2022 Aug 18:13:978747. doi: 10.3389/fendo.2022.978747. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Racha Ghoussaini¹, Hani Tamim^{2

3

4}, Martine Elbejjani^{2

3}, Maha Makki², Lara Nasreddine^{5

6}, Hussain Ismaeel^{6

7}, Mona P Nasrallah^{6

8}, Nathalie K Zgheib^{6

9}

Affiliations

¹ Faculty of Medicine, School of Medicine, American University of Beirut Medical Center, Beirut, Lebanon.
² Faculty of Medicine, Clinical Research Institute, American University of Beirut Medical Center, Beirut, Lebanon.
³ Faculty of Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, American University of Beirut Medical Center, Beirut, Lebanon.
⁴ College of Medicine, Alfaisal University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
⁵ Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences, Department of Nutrition and Food Sciences, American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon.
⁶ Vascular Medicine Program, American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon.
⁷ Faculty of Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Cardiology, American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon.
⁸ Faculty of Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Endocrinology, American University of Beirut Medical Center, Beirut, Lebanon.
⁹ Faculty of Medicine, Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon.

Abstract

Aim: Relative telomere length (RTL) predicts the development of many age-related diseases. Yet, few studies have evaluated their longitudinal effect on RTL. We investigated longitudinally the association between cardiometabolic risk factors and RTL.

Methods: This was a longitudinal study with a 5-year follow-up period, based on data collected in 2014 and 2019. Of 478 participants in 2014, 198 consented to be followed-up in 2019. The associations between RTL and risk factors were analyzed using t-test, ANOVA or simple linear regression as applicable.

Results: RTL was significantly shortened after 5 years (P<0.001). Older age (P=0.018) and gender (P=0.05) were significantly associated with shorter RTL at follow-up. Higher baseline C-peptide correlated with shorter RTL (P=0.04) and shortening of RTL (P=0.03) after 5 years. Multivariate linear regression including both age and gender revealed a significant trend for C-peptide and change in RTL after 5 years (P=0.04). Interestingly, there was a trend of shorter RTL at follow-up with diabetes, though the findings were not statistically significant.

Conclusions: Higher C-peptide level contributes to telomere shortening over time, suggesting that metabolic dysregulation may play a role in early aging. Further understanding of this relationship and addressing high C-peptide levels can be important to prevent premature aging.

Keywords: C-peptide; aging; insulin resistance; metabolic; predictor; telomere length; telomere shortening.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

C-Peptide
Humans
Longitudinal Studies
Risk Factors
Telomere Shortening*
Telomere* / genetics

Substances

C-Peptide