Back to Search
Start Over
Cross-species Association Between Telomere Length and Glucocorticoid Exposure.
- Source :
-
The Journal of clinical endocrinology and metabolism [J Clin Endocrinol Metab] 2021 Nov 19; Vol. 106 (12), pp. e5124-e5135. - Publication Year :
- 2021
-
Abstract
- Context: Chronic exposure to glucocorticoids (GCs) or stress increases the risk of medical disorders, including cardiovascular and neuropsychiatric disorders. GCs contribute to accelerated aging; however, while the link between chronic GC exposure and disease onset is well established, the underpinning mechanisms are not clear.<br />Objective: We explored the potential nexus between GCs or stress exposure and telomere length.<br />Methods: In addition to rats exposed to 3 weeks of chronic stress, an iatrogenic mouse model of Cushing syndrome (CS), and a mouse neuronal cell line, we studied 32 patients with CS and age-matched controls and another cohort of 75 healthy humans.<br />Results: (1) Exposure to stress in rats was associated with a 54.5% (P = 0.036) reduction in telomere length in T cells. Genomic DNA (gDNA) extracted from the dentate gyrus of stressed and unstressed rats showed 43.2% reduction in telomere length (P = 0.006). (2) Mice exposed to corticosterone had a 61.4% reduction in telomere length in blood gDNA (P = 5.75 × 10-5) and 58.8% reduction in telomere length in the dentate gyrus (P = 0.002). (3) We observed a 40.8% reduction in the telomere length in patients with active CS compared to healthy controls (P = 0.006). There was a 17.8% reduction in telomere length in cured CS patients, which was not different from that of healthy controls (P = 0.08). For both cured and active CS, telomere length correlated significantly with duration of hypercortisolism (R2 = 0.22, P = 0.007). (4) There was a 27.6% reduction in telomere length between low and high tertiles in bedtime cortisol levels of healthy participants (P = 0.019).<br />Conclusion: Our findings demonstrate that exposure to stress and/or GCs is associated with shortened telomeres, which may be partially reversible.<br /> (© The Author(s) 2021. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Endocrine Society. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.)
- Subjects :
- Adult
Animals
Case-Control Studies
Cushing Syndrome etiology
Cushing Syndrome metabolism
Female
Follow-Up Studies
Humans
Male
Mice
Mice, Inbred C57BL
Middle Aged
Rats
Rats, Sprague-Dawley
Species Specificity
Aging
Cushing Syndrome pathology
Disease Models, Animal
Glucocorticoids adverse effects
Stress, Physiological
Telomere Shortening
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 1945-7197
- Volume :
- 106
- Issue :
- 12
- Database :
- MEDLINE
- Journal :
- The Journal of clinical endocrinology and metabolism
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 34265046
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1210/clinem/dgab519