Association of leukocyte telomere length with obesity-related traits in Asian children with early-onset obesity

Abstract

Background: Leukocyte telomere length (LTL) is associated with obesity and obesity-related traits, and there are ethnic-specific determinants of LTL. Objective: To evaluate LTL associations with obesity and metabolic parameters in Asian children with early-onset obesity. Methods: Genomic DNA was extracted from peripheral blood leukocytes of a cohort of children with (N = 371) and without obesity (N = 23), and LTL was measured using quantitative PCR (qPCR). Blood plasma was used for metabolic phenotyping. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS and STATA. Results: Children with obesity had shorter LTL (coefficient = −0.683, PAdj = 1.24 × 10−3) as compared to children who were lean. LTL was found to be associated with waist circumference (coefficient = −0.326, PAdj = 0.044) and skin-fold measures (coefficient between 0.267 and 0.301, PAdj between 4.27 × 10−4 and 7.06 × 10−7) in children with obesity. However, no significant associations were observed between LTL and metabolic parameters, and between LTL and inflammatory cytokines. LTL also did not significantly mediate the risk of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in children with obesity. Conclusions: We showed for the first time that Asian children with severe obesity had shorter LTL, and the shortening of LTL was associated with other adiposity measures including waist circumference and skin-fold measurements.