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Telomere shortening velocity of patients administered with hypnotics is accelerated in a gender-differential manner
Toyoki Maeda1,1, Takahiko Horiuchi1,1, Naoki Makino1,1
1The Department of Internal Medicine, Kyushu University Beppu Hospital, 4546 Tsurumihara, Beppu, Oita, 874-0838, Japan.
Abstract:
The telomere length and its distribution were compared between patients administered with and without hypnotics to see if regular administration of hypnotics is associated with their aging-related somatic telomere shortening. Male patients presented significant shortening of telomere length of circulating leukocytes in association with age (-41.9 bp/year, p = 0.045) in contrast with controls (-18.3 kb/year, p = 0.155). On the other hand, female patients presented no significant shortening of telomere length with aging (-16.4 bp/year, p = 0.372) in contrast with controls (-55.9 bp/year, p = 0.00005). These results suggested that regular administration of hypnotics is associated with aging progression in a gender-related manner. The administration of hypnotics could be an indicator as the somatic aging status and for the screening of background lifestyle-associated diseases promoting biological aging.
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