title: Association of leukocyte telomere length with fatigue in nondisabled older adults.
abstract: Introduction. Fatigue is often present in older adults with no identified underlying cause. The accruing burden of oxidative stress and inflammation might be underlying factors of fatigue. We therefore hypothesized that leukocyte telomere length (LTL) is relatively short in older adults who experience fatigue. Materials and Methods. We assessed 439 older nondisabled Danish twins. LTL was measured using Southern blots of terminal restriction fragments. Fatigue was measured by the Mob-T Scale based on questions on whether the respondents felt fatigued after performing six mobility items. Results. LTL was significantly associated with fatigue (P = 0.023), showing an increase of 0.038 kb/fatigue score unit. Aging-related diseases and mental health did not explain the association, while lifestyle factors slightly attenuated the estimates. Conclusion. Our results support an association between LTL and fatigue. Further studies are required to confirm this finding and the link of LTL with oxidative stress/inflammation over the life course.
authors.affiliation: Danish Aging Research Center, Universities of Southern Denmark, Aarhus, and Copenhagen, Denmark ; Section of Social Medicine, Department of Public Health, University of Copenhagen, P.O. Box 2099, 1014 Copenhagen K, Denmark.
authors.forename: Laila
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Bendix
authors.affiliation: Danish Aging Research Center, Universities of Southern Denmark, Aarhus, and Copenhagen, Denmark ; Epidemiology, Institute of Public Health, University of Southern Denmark, JB Winslowsvej 9B, 5000 Odense C, Denmark.
authors.forename: Mikael
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-7029-453X
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Thinggaard
authors.affiliation: The Center of Human Development and Aging, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, New Jersey Medical School, Newark, NJ 07103, USA.
authors.forename: Masayuki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kimura
authors.affiliation: The Center of Human Development and Aging, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, New Jersey Medical School, Newark, NJ 07103, USA.
authors.forename: Abraham
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Aviv
authors.affiliation: Danish Aging Research Center, Universities of Southern Denmark, Aarhus, and Copenhagen, Denmark ; Epidemiology, Institute of Public Health, University of Southern Denmark, JB Winslowsvej 9B, 5000 Odense C, Denmark ; The Danish Twin Registry, Institute of Public Health, University of Southern Denmark, JB Winslowsvej 9B, 5000 Odense C, Denmark ; Department of Clinical Genetics and Department of Biochemistry and Pharmacology, Odense University Hospital, 5000 Odense C, Denmark ; Center for Healthy Aging, University of Copenhagen, 2200 Copenhagen N, Denmark.
authors.forename: Kaare
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Christensen
authors.affiliation: Danish Aging Research Center, Universities of Southern Denmark, Aarhus, and Copenhagen, Denmark ; Section of Social Medicine, Department of Public Health, University of Copenhagen, P.O. Box 2099, 1014 Copenhagen K, Denmark ; Center for Healthy Aging, University of Copenhagen, 2200 Copenhagen N, Denmark ; Research Center for Prevention and Health, The Capital Region of Denmark, 2600 Glostrup, Denmark.
authors.forename: Merete
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Osler
authors.affiliation: Danish Aging Research Center, Universities of Southern Denmark, Aarhus, and Copenhagen, Denmark ; Section of Social Medicine, Department of Public Health, University of Copenhagen, P.O. Box 2099, 1014 Copenhagen K, Denmark ; Center for Healthy Aging, University of Copenhagen, 2200 Copenhagen N, Denmark.
authors.forename: Kirsten
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Avlund