Dietary patterns and practices and leucocyte telomere length: Findings from the UK Biobank

<p>Background</p> <p>Shorter telomere length (TL) is associated with risk of several age-related diseases and decreased lifespan, but the extent to which dietary patterns and practices associate with TL is uncertain.</p> <p><br></p> <p>Objective</p> <p>This study aimed to investigate the association of dietary patterns and practices and leucocyte TL (LTL).</p> <p><br></p> <p>Design</p> <p>This was a cross-sectional study.</p> <p><br></p> <p>Participants</p> <p>/ setting: Data collected voluntarily from up to 422,797 UK Biobank participants, during 2006-2010.</p> <p><br></p> <p>Main outcome measures</p> <p>LTL was measured as a ratio of the telomere repeat number to a single–copy gene and was loge-transformed and standardised (z-LTL).</p> <p><br></p> <p>Statistical analysis</p> <p>A-priori adherence to the Mediterranean diet was assessed through the MedDietScore. Principal component analysis was used to a-posteriori extract the “Meat” and “Prudent” dietary patterns. Additional dietary practices considered were the self-reported adherence to “Vegetarian” diet, “Eating 5-a-day of fruit and vegetables” and “Abstaining from eggs/dairy/wheat/sugar”. Associations between quintiles of dietary patterns or adherence to dietary practices with z-LTL were investigated through multivariable linear regression models (adjusted for demographic, lifestyle and clinical characteristics).</p> <p><br></p> <p>Results</p> <p>Adherence to the “Mediterranean” and the “Prudent” patterns, was positively associated with LTL, with an effect magnitude in z-LTL of 0.020SD and 0.014SD, respectively, for the highest vs the lowest quintile of adherence to the pattern (both P<0.05). Conversely, a reversed association between quintile of the “Meat” pattern and LTL was observed, with z-LTL being on average shorter by 0.025SD (P=6.12x10-05) for participants in the highest quintile of the pattern compared to the lowest quintile. For adherents to “5-a-day” z-LTL was on average longer by 0.027SD (P=5.36x10-09), and for “abstainers”, LTL was shorter by 0.016SD (P=2.51x10-04). The association of LTL with a vegetarian diet was non-significant after adjustment for demographic, lifestyle and clinical characteristics.</p> <p><br></p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Several dietary patterns and practices, associated with beneficial health effects, are significantly associated with longer LTL. However, the magnitude of the association was small, and any clinical relevance is uncertain.</p>