The consumption of (chayote) has antioxidant effect and prevents telomere attrition in older adults with metabolic syndrome.

Objective: To determine the effect of the consumption of (1.5 g/day) for six months on oxidative stress (OxS) and inflammation markers and its association with telomere length (TL) in older adults with metabolic syndrome (MetS).

Methods: The study was conducted in a sample of 48 older adults: placebo (EP) and experimental (EG) groups. Lipoperoxides, protein carbonylation, 8-OHdG, total oxidant status (TOS), SOD, GPx, HO inhibition, total antioxidant status (TAS), inflammatory cytokines (IL6, IL10, TNF-α), and TL were measured before and six months post-treatment.

Results: We found a significant decrease in the levels of lipoperoxides, protein carbonylation, 8-OHdG, TOS in the EG in comparison PG. Likewise, a significante increase of TAS, IL-6, and IL-10 levels was found at six months post-treatment in EG in comparison with PG. TL showed a statistically significant decrease in PG compared to post-treatment EG.

Conclusions: Our findigns showed that the supplementation of has antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory effects, and diminushion of shortening of telomeric DNA in older adults with MetS. This would be the first study that shows that the intervention with has a possible geroprotective effect by preventing telomeres from shortening as usually happens in these patients. Therefore, suggesting a protection of telomeric DNA and genomic DNA.