title: A short leucocyte telomere length is associated with development of insulin resistance.
abstract: A number of studies have shown that leucocyte telomere length (LTL) is inversely associated with insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes mellitus. The aim of the present longitudinal cohort study, utilising a twin design, was to assess whether shorter LTL predicts insulin resistance or is a consequence thereof.
  
  
  
  Participants were recruited between 1997 and 2000 through the population-based national Danish Twin Registry to participate in the GEMINAKAR study, a longitudinal evaluation of metabolic disorders and cardiovascular risk factors. Baseline and follow-up measurements of LTL and insulin resistance over an average of 12 years were performed in a subset of the Registry consisting of 338 (184 monozygotic and 154 dizygotic) same-sex twin pairs.
  
  
  
  Age at baseline examination was 37.4 ± 9.6 (mean ± SD) years. Baseline insulin resistance was not associated with age-dependent changes in LTL (attrition) over the follow-up period, whereas baseline LTL was associated with changes in insulin resistance during this period. The shorter the LTL at baseline, the more pronounced was the increase in insulin resistance over the follow-up period (p < 0.001); this effect was additive to that of BMI. The co-twin with the shorter baseline LTL displayed higher insulin resistance at follow-up than the co-twin with the longer LTL.
  
  
  
  These findings suggest that individuals with short LTL are more likely to develop insulin resistance later in life. By contrast, presence of insulin resistance does not accelerate LTL attrition.
authors.affiliation: Groningen Institute for Evolutionary Life Sciences, University of Groningen, Groningen, the Netherlands.
authors.forename: Simon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Verhulst
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, Environmental Medicine, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark.
authors.forename: Christine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Dalgård
authors.affiliation: INSERM, U1116, Vandoeuvre-les-Nancy, France.|Université de Lorraine, Nancy, France.
authors.forename: Carlos
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Labat
authors.affiliation: Hebrew University-Hadassah School of Public Health and Community Medicine, Jerusalem, Israel.
authors.forename: Jeremy D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Kark
authors.affiliation: Center of Human Development and Aging, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, New Jersey Medical School, Newark, NJ, USA.
authors.forename: Masayuki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kimura
authors.affiliation: The Danish Twin Registry, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark.|Department of Clinical Genetics, Odense University Hospital, Odense, Denmark.|Department of Clinical Biochemistry and Pharmacology, Odense University Hospital, Odense, Denmark.
authors.forename: Kaare
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Christensen
authors.affiliation: INSERM, U1116, Vandoeuvre-les-Nancy, France.|Université de Lorraine, Nancy, France.
authors.forename: Simon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Toupance
authors.affiliation: Center of Human Development and Aging, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, New Jersey Medical School, Newark, NJ, USA.
authors.forename: Abraham
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Aviv
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Research, University of Southern Denmark and Odense Patient data Explorative Network (OPEN), Odense University Hospital, Odense, Denmark.
authors.forename: Kirsten O
authors.initials: KO
authors.lastname: Kyvik
authors.affiliation: INSERM, U1116, Vandoeuvre-les-Nancy, France. a.benetos@chu-nancy.fr.|Université de Lorraine, Nancy, France. a.benetos@chu-nancy.fr.|Département de Médecine Gériatrique, CHU de Nancy, 54511, Vandoeuvre-les-Nancy, France. a.benetos@chu-nancy.fr.
authors.forename: Athanase
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Benetos
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000235:genetics / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007333:Insulin Resistance / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D007962:Leukocytes / Q000378:metabolism*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012307:Risk Factors; D012737:Sex Factors; D016615:Telomere / Q000235:genetics*
keywords: Genetics/epidemiology (all); Human; Insulin sensitivity and resistance