Comparison of Telomere Length Differences before and after Bariatric Surgery

To evaluate whether relative telomere length changes one year after bariatric surgery in patients with morbid obesity.

A descriptive cohort study. Place and Duration of the Study: Department of General Surgery, Kartal Dr. Lutfi Kirdar City Hospital, Istanbul, Turkiye, from March 2022 to May 2023.

Patients aged 18-65 years who underwent bariatric surgery for morbid obesity were included. Morbid obesity was defined as a body mass index (BMI) of ≥40 kg/m2 or ≥35 kg/m2 with obesity-related comorbidities. Peripheral venous blood samples were obtained preoperatively and at the first postoperative year. Genomic DNA was isolated from peripheral blood samples, and telomere length was assessed using real-time polymerase chain reaction. Telomere length was expressed as relative telomere length using the 2^-ΔΔCt method. The Wilcoxon signed-rank test was used to compare preoperative and postoperative values.

A total of 56 patients were included in the study. The median age was 40.0 years (IQR: 16.0), and the median BMI was 44.0 kg/m2 (IQR: 7.7). Of the patients, 46 (82.1%) were females, and 10 (17.9%) were males. Thirty-five patients (62.5%) underwent laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy, and 21 patients (37.5%) underwent Roux-en-Y gastric bypass. No statistically significant difference was observed between preoperative and postoperative β-globin, TELO, or 36B4 amplification values. Similarly, relative telomere length calculated by the 2^-ΔΔCt method did not differ significantly after surgery compared with baseline values (p = 0.811).

Bariatric surgery was not associated with a statistically significant change in relative telomere length at one-year follow-up.

Bariatric surgery, Morbid obesity, Telomere, Telomere length.