title: Metabolically healthy obese women have longer telomere length than obese women with metabolic syndrome.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Obesity is the principal component in the Metabolic Syndrome (MetS) that determines the progression of metabolic complications. Metabolically healthy obese (MHO) individuals seem to be protected against those complications. Telomere length (TL) as a novel marker of cellular aging had a complex relationship to the MetS. The principal aim of this study was to investigate the TL in MHO, and to study the association between TL and the worsening of the metabolic condition.
  
  
  METHODS
  We have determined the absolute TL (aTL) in 400 women (mean age of 46.76 ± 15.47 years; range: 18-86 years), grouped according to the metabolic condition in three groups: metabolically healthy non-obese women (MHNO), MHO and obese women with MetS (MSO); and grouped according to the number of components of MetS.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We found that MHO displays significantly higher aTL than MSO (p = 0.033; r = -4.63; 95% CI r = -8.89 / -0.37), but did not differ from MHNO. A decrease in aTL with the progressive increase in the number of MetS components was also observed (p < 0.001; r = -2.06; 95% CI r = -3.13 / -0.99). In this way, our results indicate that aTL is influenced by the presence of MetS, but it is not affected by the presence of obesity.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We found that shorter aTL is not associated with MHO, but is related to MetS and with the increased number of metabolic abnormalities.
authors.affiliation: CONICET-Universidad de Buenos Aires. Instituto de Inmunología, Genética y Metabolismo (INIGEM). Laboratorio de Diabetes y Metabolismo. Buenos Aires, Argentina.
authors.forename: Andrea E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Iglesias Molli
authors.affiliation: Academia Nacional de Medicina. CONICET. Instituto de Medicina experimental (IMEX). Laboratorio de Genética de Neoplasias Linfoides. Buenos Aires, Argentina.
authors.forename: Julieta
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Panero
authors.affiliation: Academia Nacional de Medicina. CONICET. Instituto de Medicina experimental (IMEX). Laboratorio de Genética de Neoplasias Linfoides. Buenos Aires, Argentina.
authors.forename: Patricia C
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Dos Santos
authors.affiliation: Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Medicina. Departamento de Farmacología. Cátedra II. Buenos Aires, Argentina.
authors.forename: Claudio D
authors.initials: CD
authors.lastname: González
authors.affiliation: Hospital FLENI. Departamento de Cardiología. Buenos Aires, Argentina.
authors.forename: Jorge
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Vilariño
authors.affiliation: Hospital Fiorito. Servicio de Endocrinología. Buenos Aires, Argentina.
authors.forename: Marta
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sereday
authors.affiliation: Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica. Departamento de Microbiología, Inmunología y Biotecnología. Cátedra de Genética. Buenos Aires, Argentina.
authors.forename: Gloria E
authors.initials: GE
authors.lastname: Cerrone
authors.affiliation: Academia Nacional de Medicina. CONICET. Instituto de Medicina experimental (IMEX). Laboratorio de Genética de Neoplasias Linfoides. Buenos Aires, Argentina.
authors.forename: Irma
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Slavutsky
authors.affiliation: CONICET-Universidad de Buenos Aires. Instituto de Inmunología, Genética y Metabolismo (INIGEM). Laboratorio de Diabetes y Metabolismo. Buenos Aires, Argentina.
authors.forename: Gustavo D
authors.initials: GD
authors.lastname: Frechtel
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D006801:Humans; D024821:Metabolic Syndrome / Q000235:genetics*; D008875:Middle Aged; D000067329:Obesity, Metabolically Benign / Q000235:genetics*; D016615:Telomere; D055815:Young Adult