Exposing telomere length's impact on malnutrition risk among older adults residing in the community: Insights from cross-sectional data analysis.

Autor: Rodrigues P; Faculty of Nutrition, Federal University of Alfenas, Alfenas, Brazil., Furtado G; Polytechnic University of Coimbra, Rua da Misericórdia, Lagar dos Cortiços-S. Martinho do Bispo, Coimbra, Portugal.; Research Centre for Natural Resources Environment and Society (CERNAS), Polytechnic University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal.; SPRINT - Sport Physical activity and health Research & INnovation cenTer, Polytechnic University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal., Martins M; Faculty of Nutrition, Federal University of Alfenas, Alfenas, Brazil.; GreenUPorto - Sustainable Agrifood Production Research Centre, Vairão, Portugal.; Centre for the Research and Technology of Agro-Environmental and Biological Sciences (CITAB), Vila Real, Portugal.; Polytechnic University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal.; H&TRC - Health & Technology Research Center, Coimbra Health School, Polytechnic University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal.; Sports and Physical Activity Research Center, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal.; Research Centre for Anthropology and Health, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal., Vieira R; Nursing School, Federal University of Alfenas, Alfenas, Brazil., Orlandi A; Nursing Department, Federal University of São Carlos, São Carlos, Brazil., Brito-Costa S; Polytechnic University of Coimbra, Rua da Misericórdia, Lagar dos Cortiços-S. Martinho do Bispo, Coimbra, Portugal.; InED - Center for Research and Innovation in Education, Polytechnic Institute of Porto, Porto, Portugal., Moisão A; Polytechnic University of Coimbra, Rua da Misericórdia, Lagar dos Cortiços-S. Martinho do Bispo, Coimbra, Portugal.; InED - Center for Research and Innovation in Education, Polytechnic Institute of Porto, Porto, Portugal., Corona L; Faculty of Applied Sciences, University of Campinas, Campinas, Brazil., Lima D; Faculty of Nutrition, Federal University of Alfenas, Alfenas, Brazil., Brito T; Faculty of Nutrition, Federal University of Alfenas, Alfenas, Brazil.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: PloS one [PLoS One] 2024 Nov 05; Vol. 19 (11), pp. e0308612. Date of Electronic Publication: 2024 Nov 05 (Print Publication: 2024).
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0308612
Abstrakt: Background: Successful aging is associated with an increase in life expectancy. For a better understanding of the aging process, recognize the relationship between telomere length and nutritional status is a novel approach in geriatric science. Telomers shortening coincides with a decrease in life expectancy, and an increased risk of malnutrition-related diseases.
Goals: The goal of this study was to investigate whether a shorter telomere length is associated with a greater likelihood of malnutrition in community-dwelling older adults.
Methods: A cross-sectional study with a probabilistic sample of 448 older people aged 60 years old or over, and living in the urban area of an inland Brazilian municipality was conducted. The information was gathered in two stages: a) a personal interview was conducted to obtain sociodemographic, cognitive, and functional autonomy data. The Mini Nutritional Assessment was used to assess the risk of malnutrition. b) a blood sample was taken to proceed with the relative quantitative study of telomere length using real-time qPCR method. The differences between the groups were estimated using Pearson's v2 and Fisher's exact tests. In the data analysis, descriptive statistics and multiple logistic regression were applied.
Results: In 34.15% of the total sample, malnutrition was recognized as a risk factor. Older people with the shortest telomere length had more chances of getting malnutrition (OR = 1.63; IC:95% = 1.04-2.55) compared to those with longer telomeres, independent of age groups, family income, multimorbidity, cognitive decline, and depressive symptoms.
Conclusion: The creation of clinical trials and the implementation of therapies to reduce the risk of malnutrition will be aided using the telomere length as an aging innovative biomarker, connected with nutritional status.
Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
(Copyright: © 2024 Rodrigues et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)
Databáze: MEDLINE
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