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Inflammation, Telomere Length, and Grip Strength: A 10-year Longitudinal Study

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Abstract

Telomere attrition has been associated with age-related diseases, although causality is unclear and controversial; low-grade systemic inflammation (inflammaging) has also been implicated in age-related pathogenesis. Unpicking the relationship between aging, telomere length (TL), and inflammaging is hence essential to the understanding of aging and management of age-related diseases. This longitudinal study explored whether telomere attrition is a cause or consequence of aging and whether inflammaging explains some of the associations between TL and one marker of aging, grip strength. We studied 253 Hertfordshire Ageing Study participants at baseline and 10-year follow-up (mean age at baseline 67.1 years). Participants completed a health questionnaire and had blood samples collected for immune–endocrine and telomere analysis at both time points. Physical aging was characterized at follow-up using grip strength. Faster telomere attrition was associated with lower grip strength at follow-up (β = 0.98, p = 0.035). This association was completely attenuated when adjusted for inflammaging burden (p = 0.86) over the same period. Similarly, greater inflammaging burden was associated with lower grip strength at follow-up (e.g., interleukin [IL]-1β: β = −2.18, p = 0.001). However, these associations were maintained when adjusted for telomere attrition (IL-1β, p = 0.006). We present evidence that inflammaging may be driving telomere attrition and in part explains the associations that have previously been reported between TL and grip strength. Thus, biomarkers of physical aging, such as inflammaging, may require greater exploration. Further work is now indicated.

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Acknowledgments

This work was funded by the Medical Research Council, the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, and the University of Southampton, Southampton, United Kingdom. The Hertfordshire Cohort Study was supported the Medical Research Council of Great Britain; Arthritis Research UK; and the International Osteoporosis Foundation. This work was also supported by the NIHR Nutrition BRU, University of Southampton, and the NIHR Musculoskeletal BRU, University of Oxford. We thank all of the men and women who took part in the Hertfordshire Cohort Study; the HCS Research Staff; Vanessa Cox, who managed the data; and Gill Strange, who prepared the document

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. MRC Lifecourse Epidemiology Unit, University of Southampton, Southampton General Hospital, Southampton, SO16 6YD, UK

    Daniel Baylis, Georgia Ntani, Mark H. Edwards, Holly E. Syddall, Elaine M. Dennison, Avan Aihie Sayer & Cyrus Cooper

  2. Academic Geriatric Medicine, School of Medicine, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK

    Daniel Baylis & Avan Aihie Sayer

  3. MRC-ARUK Centre for Musculoskeletal Ageing Research, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK

    David B. Bartlett & Janet M. Lord

  4. Institute for Ageing and Health, University of Newcastle Upon Tyne, Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK

    Carmen Martin-Ruiz & Thomas von Zglinicki

  5. MRC Unit for Lifelong Health and Ageing, University College London, London, UK

    Diana Kuh

  6. NIHR Nutrition Biomedical Research Centre, University of Southampton and University Hospital Southampton NHS Trust, Southampton General Hospital, Southampton, SO16 6YD, UK

    Cyrus Cooper

  7. NIHR Musculoskeletal Biomedical Research Unit, Nuffield Department of Orthopaedics, Rheumatology and Musculoskeletal Science, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX3 5UG, UK

    Cyrus Cooper

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  1. Daniel Baylis
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Correspondence to Cyrus Cooper.

Additional information

BD, GN, MHE, HES, EMD, DBB and AAS declare no conflict of interest. CC has received honoraria and consulting fees from Amgen, Eli Lilly, Medtronic, Merck, Novartis and Servier. JML has received honoraria from Pfizer and Samsung

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Baylis, D., Ntani, G., Edwards, M.H. et al. Inflammation, Telomere Length, and Grip Strength: A 10-year Longitudinal Study. Calcif Tissue Int 95, 54–63 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00223-014-9862-7

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