Chronic inflammation mediates the relationship between physical activity and telomere length

Area of Science:

• Cellular Biology
• Longevity Research
• Exercise Physiology

Background:

• A physically active lifestyle is associated with cellular aging benefits, but the underlying mechanisms remain unclear.
• Physical activity (PA) correlates with longer telomere length (TL), while shorter TL is linked to increased cellular aging.
• Inflammatory markers like C-reactive protein (CRP) may be involved in telomere dysfunction.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate whether C-reactive protein (CRP) levels mediate the association between physical activity (PA) and telomere length (TL).
• To explore the mechanistic link between moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) and telomere length (TL) through CRP.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of data from 79,873 participants in the UK Biobank, including device-measured moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA), serum CRP levels, and leukocyte TL (T/S ratio).
• Application of general linear regressions and causal mediation analysis with 10,000 bootstraps.
• Control for multiple covariates including age, BMI, smoking status, sex, ethnicity, and socioeconomic factors.

Main Results:

• Both MVPA and CRP were significant predictors of TL (p < 0.0001 for MVPA, p < 0.0000003 for CRP).
• CRP mediated 8.65% (95% CI: 4.77%, 16.0%) of the total effect between MVPA and TL.
• The mediation effect of CRP on the MVPA-TL association was statistically significant (p < 2e-16).

Conclusions:

• The study supports the hypothesis that CRP mediates the relationship between moderate-to-vigorous physical activity and telomere length.
• Findings suggest a potential pathway where PA reduces CRP concentrations, which in turn is associated with longer average TL.
• This provides a novel mechanistic insight into how physical activity promotes cellular health and potentially longevity.