title: Telomere Length in Elite Athletes.
abstract: Growing evidence suggests that regular moderate-intensity physical activity is associated with an attenuation of leukocyte telomere length (LTL) shortening. However, more controversy exists regarding higher exercise loads such as those imposed by elite-sport participation.
  
  
  METHODS
  The authors investigated LTL differences between young elite athletes (n = 61, 54% men, age [mean ± SD] 27.2 ± 4.9 y) and healthy nonsmoker, physically inactive controls (n = 64, 52% men, 28.9 ± 6.3 y) using analysis of variance (ANOVA).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Elite athletes had, on average, higher LTL than control subjects, 0.89 ± 0.26 vs 0.78 ± 0.31, P = .013 for the group effect, with no significant sex (P = .995) or age effect (P = .114).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results suggest that young elite athletes have longer telomeres than their inactive peers. Further research might assess the LTL of elite athletes of varying ages compared with both age-matched active and inactive individuals.
authors.forename: Carlos A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Muniesa
authors.forename: Zoraida
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Verde
authors.forename: Germán
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Diaz-Ureña
authors.forename: Catalina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Santiago
authors.forename: Fernando
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Gutiérrez
authors.forename: Enrique
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Díaz
authors.forename: Félix
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Gómez-Gallego
authors.forename: Helios
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Pareja-Galeano
authors.forename: Luisa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Soares-Miranda
authors.forename: Alejandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lucia
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D056352:Athletes; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D015444:Exercise; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007962:Leukocytes / Q000166:cytology; D008297:Male; D057185:Sedentary Behavior; D016615:Telomere / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: DNA; biological aging; high-level athletes; leukocytes; telomerase