Telomere length and psychological well-being in patients with chronic heart failure.
BACKGROUND
psychological stress and depressive symptoms have been implicated with accelerated ageing and increased progression of diseases. Shorter telomere length indicates a more advanced biological age. It is unknown whether psychological well-being is associated with telomere length in patients with the somatic condition of chronic heart failure (CHF).


METHODS
a cross-sectional analysis was used.


METHODS
patients were admitted to the hospital with signs and symptoms of CHF.


OBJECTIVE
the study aimed to assess the association between telomere length and psychological well-being in patients with CHF.


METHODS
telomere length was determined by quantitative polymerase chain reaction in 890 patients with New York Heart Association functional class II to IV CHF. We evaluated the perceived mental health by the validated RAND-36 questionnaire. Depressive symptoms were assessed by the Centre for Epidemiologic Studies Depression scale (CES-D), and the presence of type D personality was evaluated by the DS14.


RESULTS
a lower perceived mental health on the RAND-36 score was associated with shorter telomere length. Adjustment for age and gender did not change our findings (standardised beta, 0.11; P-value, 0.002). Telomere length was not associated with the CES-D or DS14 score.


CONCLUSIONS
decreased perceived mental health is associated with shorter leukocyte telomere length in patients with CHF. Future work should determine whether psychological stress accelerates biological ageing.
Huzen
Jardi
J
Department of Cardiology, University Medical Center Groningen, Hanzeplein 1, 9700 RB Groningen, The Netherlands.
van der Harst
Pim
P
de Boer
Rudolf A
RA
Lesman-Leegte
Ivonne
I
Voors
Adriaan A
AA
van Gilst
Wiek H
WH
Samani
Nilesh J
NJ
Jaarsma
Tiny
T
van Veldhuisen
Dirk J
DJ
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology / Q000523:psychology; D002908:Chronic Disease; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003863:Depression / Q000235:genetics / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D015577:Geriatric Assessment; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000150:complications / Q000235:genetics / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D011788:Quality of Life; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012307:Risk Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D016615:Telomere / Q000235:genetics* / Q000648:ultrastructure*