Maternal Folate Concentration in Early Pregnancy and Newborn Telomere Length.

Background/aims: Telomere biology plays a fundamental role in genomic integrity and cell physiology. The newborn setting of telomere length (TL) likely has important implications for telomere dynamics over the lifespan; however, its determinants are poorly understood. Folate is essential for DNA integrity.

Leukocyte telomere length and mortality in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 1999-2002.

Background: This study examined the association between leukocyte telomere length--a marker of cell aging--and mortality in a nationally representative sample of US adults ages 50-84 years. We also examined moderating effects of age, sex, race/ethnicity, and education.

Methods: Data were from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 1999-2002 (n = 3,091).

Psychiatric disorders and leukocyte telomere length: Underlying mechanisms linking mental illness with cellular aging.

Many psychiatric illnesses are associated with early mortality and with an increased risk of developing physical diseases that are more typically seen in the elderly. Moreover, certain psychiatric illnesses may be associated with accelerated cellular aging, evidenced by shortened leukocyte telomere length (LTL), which could underlie this association. Shortened LTL reflects a cell's mitotic history and cumulative exposure to inflammation and oxidation as well as the availability of telomerase, a telomere-lengthening enzyme.

Acute responses to opioidergic blockade as a biomarker of hedonic eating among obese women enrolled in a mindfulness-based weight loss intervention trial.

There are currently no commonly used or easily accessible 'biomarkers' of hedonic eating. Physiologic responses to acute opioidergic blockade, indexed by cortisol changes and nausea, may represent indirect functional measures of opioid-mediated hedonic eating drive and predict weight loss following a mindfulness-based intervention for stress eating. In the current study, we tested whether cortisol and nausea responses induced by oral ingestion of an opioidergic antagonist (naltrexone) correlated with weight and self-report measures of hedonic eating and predicted changes in these measures following a mindfulness-based weight loss intervention.

Race-Ethnicity, Poverty, Urban Stressors, and Telomere Length in a Detroit Community-based Sample.

Residents of distressed urban areas suffer early aging-related disease and excess mortality. Using a community-based participatory research approach in a collaboration between social researchers and cellular biologists, we collected a unique data set of 239 black, white, or Mexican adults from a stratified, multistage probability sample of three Detroit neighborhoods. We drew venous blood and measured telomere length (TL), an indicator of stress-mediated biological aging, linking respondents' TL to their community survey responses.

Excessive Sugar Consumption May Be a Difficult Habit to Break: A View From the Brain and Body.

Context: Sugar overconsumption and chronic stress are growing health concerns because they both may increase the risk for obesity and its related diseases. Rodent studies suggest that sugar consumption may activate a glucocorticoid-metabolic-brain-negative feedback pathway, which may turn off the stress response and thereby reinforce habitual sugar overconsumption.

Objective: The objective of the study was to test our hypothesized glucocorticoid-metabolic-brain model in women consuming beverages sweetened with either aspartame of sucrose.

PBMC telomerase activity, but not leukocyte telomere length, correlates with hippocampal volume in major depression.

Accelerated cell aging, indexed in peripheral leukocytes by telomere shortness and in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) by telomerase activity, has been reported in several studies of major depressive disorder (MDD). However, the relevance of these peripheral measures for brain indices that are presumably more directly related to MDD pathophysiology is unknown. In this study, we explored the relationship between PBMC telomerase activity and leukocyte telomere length and magnetic resonance imaging-estimated hippocampal volume in un-medicated depressed individuals and healthy controls.

Household food insecurity is positively associated with depression among low-income supplemental nutrition assistance program participants and income-eligible nonparticipants.

Background: Food insecurity is associated with adverse mental health outcomes. Given that federal food assistance programs, such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), aim to alleviate food insecurity, there may be heterogeneity in the association between food insecurity and depression by SNAP participation status.

Objective: With the use of data from the 2005-2010 NHANES, we examined the associations between household food security and depression and whether these differed by SNAP participation.

Anxiety disorders and accelerated cellular ageing.

Background: Anxiety disorders increase the risk of onset of several ageing-related somatic conditions, which might be the consequence of accelerated cellular ageing.

Aims: To examine the association between anxiety status and leukocyte telomere length (LTL) as an indicator of cellular ageing.

Method: Data are from individuals with current (n = 1283) and remitted (n = 459) anxiety disorder, and controls (n = 582) with no psychiatric disorder from the Netherlands Study of Depression and Anxiety.

From ideas to efficacy: The ORBIT model for developing behavioral treatments for chronic diseases.

Objective: Given the critical role of behavior in preventing and treating chronic diseases, it is important to accelerate the development of behavioral treatments that can improve chronic disease prevention and outcomes. Findings from basic behavioral and social sciences research hold great promise for addressing behaviorally based clinical health problems, yet there is currently no established pathway for translating fundamental behavioral science discoveries into health-related treatments ready for Phase III efficacy testing. This article provides a systematic framework for developing behavioral treatments for preventing and treating chronic diseases.

Tired telomeres: Poor global sleep quality, perceived stress, and telomere length in immune cell subsets in obese men and women.

Poor sleep quality and short sleep duration are associated with increased incidence and progression of a number of chronic health conditions observed at greater frequency among the obese and those experiencing high levels of stress. Accelerated cellular aging, as indexed by telomere attrition in immune cells, is a plausible pathway linking sleep and disease risk. Prior studies linking sleep and telomere length are mixed.

Associations of cadmium and lead exposure with leukocyte telomere length: findings from National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 1999-2002.

Cadmium and lead are ubiquitous environmental contaminants that might increase risks of cardiovascular disease and other aging-related diseases, but their relationships with leukocyte telomere length (LTL), a marker of cellular aging, are poorly understood. In experimental studies, they have been shown to induce telomere shortening, but no epidemiologic study to date has examined their associations with LTL in the general population. We examined associations of blood lead and cadmium (n = 6,796) and urine cadmium (n = 2,093) levels with LTL among a nationally representative sample of US adults from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (1999-2002).

Geroscience: linking aging to chronic disease.

Mammalian aging can be delayed with genetic, dietary, and pharmacologic approaches. Given that the elderly population is dramatically increasing and that aging is the greatest risk factor for a majority of chronic diseases driving both morbidity and mortality, it is critical to expand geroscience research directed at extending human healthspan.

Maternal estriol concentrations in early gestation predict infant telomere length.

Context: Telomere biology plays a fundamental role in genomic integrity, cellular regeneration, physiology, aging, disease risk, and mortality. The initial setting of telomere length (TL) in early life has important implications for telomere maintenance and related disorders throughout the life span. However, little is known about the predictors of this initial setting.

Soda and cell aging: associations between sugar-sweetened beverage consumption and leukocyte telomere length in healthy adults from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys.

Objectives: We tested whether leukocyte telomere length maintenance, which underlies healthy cellular aging, provides a link between sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) consumption and the risk of cardiometabolic disease.

Methods: We examined cross-sectional associations between the consumption of SSBs, diet soda, and fruit juice and telomere length in a nationally representative sample of healthy adults. The study population included 5309 US adults, aged 20 to 65 years, with no history of diabetes or cardiovascular disease, from the 1999 to 2002 National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys.

The hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal-leptin axis and metabolic health: a systems approach to resilience, robustness and control.

Glucocorticoids contribute to obesity and metabolic syndrome; however, the mechanisms are unclear, and prognostic measures are unavailable. A systems level understanding of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA)-leptin axis may reveal novel insights. Eighteen obese premenopausal women provided blood samples every 10 min over 24 h, which were assayed for cortisol, adrenocorticotropin releasing hormone (ACTH) and leptin.

Peripheral antioxidant markers are associated with total hippocampal and CA3/dentate gyrus volume in MDD and healthy controls-preliminary findings.

Several psychiatric disorders, including major depressive disorder (MDD), are associated with increased blood markers of oxidative stress. The relevance of this to the oxidation-sensitive hippocampus (HC) is unknown. We investigated the relationship between peripheral oxidative stress markers and HC volume in unmedicated individuals with MDD (n=16) and healthy controls (n=19).

Depression, anxiety and telomere length in young adults: evidence from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.

Telomere length has been hypothesized to be a marker of cumulative exposure to stress, and stress is an established cause of depression and anxiety disorders. The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between depression, anxiety and telomere length, and to assess whether this relationship is moderated by race/ethnicity, gender and/or antidepressant use. Data were from the 1999-2002 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.

Adverse childhood experiences and leukocyte telomere maintenance in depressed and healthy adults.

Background: Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are associated with poor physical and mental health outcomes in adulthood. Adverse childhood experiences are also associated with shortened leukocyte telomere length (LTL) in adults, suggesting accelerated cell aging. No studies have yet assessed the relationship of ACEs to LTL in individuals with major depressive disorder (MDD), despite the high incidence of antecedent ACEs in individuals with MDD.

Effect of restorative yoga vs. stretching on diurnal cortisol dynamics and psychosocial outcomes in individuals with the metabolic syndrome: the PRYSMS randomized controlled trial.

Purpose: Chronic stimulation and dysregulation of the neuroendocrine system by stress may cause metabolic abnormalities. We estimated how much cortisol and psychosocial outcomes improved with a restorative yoga (relaxation) versus a low impact stretching intervention for individuals with the metabolic syndrome.

Methods: We conducted a 1-year multi-center randomized controlled trial (6-month intervention and 6-month maintenance phase) of restorative yoga vs.

Food insecurity is inversely associated with diet quality of lower-income adults.

Food insecurity acts as a chronic stressor independent of poverty. Food-insecure adults may consume more highly palatable foods as a coping mechanism, leading to poorer diet quality and increased risks of chronic disease over time. Using data from the 1999-2008 National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys, this study aimed to examine the cross-sectional differences in dietary intake and diet quality by household food security among 8,129 lower-income adults (≤300% of the federal poverty level).

Determinants of telomere attrition over 1 year in healthy older women: stress and health behaviors matter.

Telomere length, a reliable predictor of disease pathogenesis, can be affected by genetics, chronic stress and health behaviors. Cross-sectionally, highly stressed postmenopausal women have shorter telomeres, but only if they are inactive. However, no studies have prospectively examined telomere length change over a short period, and if rate of attrition is affected by naturalistic factors such as stress and engagement in healthy behaviors, including diet, exercise, and sleep.

Associations of weight stigma with cortisol and oxidative stress independent of adiposity.

Objective: Weight discrimination is associated with increased risk of obesity. The mechanism of this relationship is unknown, but being overweight is a highly stigmatized condition and may be a source of chronic stress that contributes to the development and pathophysiology of obesity. The objective of this study was to test whether weight stigma is associated with physiological risk factors linked to stress and obesity, including hypercortisolism and oxidative stress, independent of adiposity.

The reward-based eating drive scale: a self-report index of reward-based eating.

Why are some individuals more vulnerable to persistent weight gain and obesity than are others? Some obese individuals report factors that drive overeating, including lack of control, lack of satiation, and preoccupation with food, which may stem from reward-related neural circuitry. These are normative and common symptoms and not the sole focus of any existing measures. Many eating scales capture these common behaviors, but are confounded with aspects of dysregulated eating such as binge eating or emotional overeating.