title: Leukocyte mitochondrial DNA copy number, anthropometric indices, and weight change in US women.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To examine the association between leukocyte mitochondrial DNA copy number (mtCN) and different anthropometric indices as well as weight changes; and to compare mtCN and telomere length with respect to their associations with BMI and age.
  
  
  METHODS
  Population based cohort study.
  
  
  METHODS
  Nurses' Health Study, an ongoing prospective cohort study of 121,700 nurses enrolled in 1976; in 1989-1990 a subset of 32,826 women provided blood samples.
  
  
  METHODS
  1,700 disease-free US women from case-control studies nested within the Nurses' Health Study with mtCN and telomere length measured who also have anthropometric measurements.
  
  
  METHODS
  Relative mtCN and telomere lengths in peripheral blood leukocytes measured by quantitative real time polymerase chain reaction and various anthropometric measurements data from initial questionnaire.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Leukocyte mtCN was inversely associated with current weight (LS means Q1-Q4: 0.07, 0.04, 0.03, -0.17; P trend =0.002), waist size (LS means Q1-Q4: 0.06, 0.05, -0.04, -0.06; P trend = 0.04), BMI (LS means normal light, normal heavy, overweight, pre-obese, obese: 0.11, -0.01, -0.04, 0.04, -0.25; P trend<0.0001), and waist-hip ratio (WHR) (LS means Q1-Q4: 0.06, 0.08, -0.04, -0.06; P trend = 0.03). A one-unit decrease in mtCN z score was equivalent to approximately 3.5 pounds of weight gain for an adult of 5'10''. In addition, weight gain was bi-directionally and inversely associated with mtCN. Moreover, mtCN was strongly positively correlated with telomere length (LS means Q1-Q4: -0.02, 0.09, 0.11, 0.33; P trend <0.0001). MtCN was inversely associated with BMI even after adjusting for telomere length (P trend =0.003), while telomere length was not associated with BMI. On the other hand, telomere length was inversely associated with age after adjusting for mtCN (P trend =0.04), while mtCN was not associated with age.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results provide compelling evidence for a potential bi-directional temporal relationship between mitochondrial-mediated oxidative stress-defense mechanisms and weight change.
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Shasha
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Meng
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Shaowei
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Liming
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Liang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Environmental Medicine Engineering, Ministry of Education, School of Public Health, Southeast University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China.
authors.forename: Geyu
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Liang
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA.|Channing Division of Network Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.|Department of Nutrition, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Edward
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Giovannucci
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA.|Channing Division of Network Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Immaculata
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: De Vivo
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health, Indiana University, Indianapolis, IN, USA.|Indiana University Melvin and Bren Simon Cancer Center, Indianapolis, IN, USA.
authors.forename: Hongmei
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Nan
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000886:Anthropometry; D015992:Body Mass Index; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D015331:Cohort Studies; D056915:DNA Copy Number Variations / Q000235:genetics; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial / Q000032:analysis*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007621:Karyotyping; D007962:Leukocytes / Q000502:physiology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D018384:Oxidative Stress; D044382:Population Groups; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012737:Sex Factors; D059505:Telomere Homeostasis; D014481:United States
chemical_list: D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial
keywords: anthropometric indices; mitochondrial DNA copy number; telemere length; weight change