Lipoprotein Particle Profiles Associated with Telomere Length and Telomerase Complex Components

Telomere length (TL) is a well-known marker of age-related diseases. Oxidative stress and inflammation increase the rate of telomere shortening, triggering cellular senescence. Although lipoproteins could have anti-inflammatory and proinflammatory functional properties, the relationship between lipoprotein particles with TL and telomerase activity-related genes has not been investigated much. In this study, we assessed the associations of lipoprotein subfractions with telomere length, , and expression in a total of 54 pre-diabetic subjects from the EPIRDEM study. We regressed TL, , and on 12 lipoprotein subclasses, employing a Gaussian linear regression method with Lasso penalty to determine a lipoprotein profile associated with telomere-related parameters. The covariates included age, sex, body mass index (BMI), dyslipidemia, statin consumption, and physical activity leisure time. We identified a lipoprotein profile composed of four lipoprotein subfractions associated with TL (Pearson r = 0.347, -value = 0.010), two lipoprotein subfractions associated with expression (Pearson r = 0.316, -value = 0.020), and five lipoprotein subfractions associated with expression (Pearson r = 0.379, -value =0.005). After adjusting for known confounding factors, most lipoprotein profiles maintained the association with TL, , and . Overall, medium and small-sized HDL particles were associated with shorter telomeres and lower expression of and . Large HDL particles were associated with longer telomere and lower expression of , but not with . Our results suggest that the lipoprotein profiles are associated with telomere length, , and expression and should be considered when assessing the risk of chronic diseases.