Higher hair cortisol concentrations associated with shorter leukocyte telomere length in high-risk young adults
Abstract Chronic stress is associated with accelerated biological aging as indexed by short age-adjusted leukocyte telomere length (LTL). Exploring links of biological stress responses with LTL has proved challenging due to the lack of biological measures of chronic psychological stress. Hair cortis...
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Nature Portfolio
2022-07-01
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| Series: | Scientific Reports |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-14905-4 |
| _version_ | 1818510616273354752 |
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| author | David Bürgin Nimmy Varghese Anne Eckert Vera Clemens Eva Unternährer Cyril Boonmann Aoife O’Donovan Marc Schmid |
| author_facet | David Bürgin Nimmy Varghese Anne Eckert Vera Clemens Eva Unternährer Cyril Boonmann Aoife O’Donovan Marc Schmid |
| author_sort | David Bürgin |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Chronic stress is associated with accelerated biological aging as indexed by short age-adjusted leukocyte telomere length (LTL). Exploring links of biological stress responses with LTL has proved challenging due to the lack of biological measures of chronic psychological stress. Hair cortisol concentration (HCC) has emerged as a measure of chronic hypothalamic pituitary adrenal (HPA) axis activation, allowing the examination of relationships between aggregate cortisol concentrations over time and LTL. Our sample includes 92 participants (38% women, Mage = 26 ± 3.7 years) from a high-risk sample of young adults with previous residential care placements. Two cm hair was collected for HCC, reflecting approximately eight weeks of cortisol secretion. LTL was measured with quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) in whole blood samples. All samples for LTL were run in triplicate and assayed twice. Linear and polynomial regression models were used to describe the association between HCC and LTL, adjusting for age and sex. HCC and LTL showed negative associations (std. ß = − 0.67, 95% CI [− 0.83, − 0.52], p < .001) in age- and sex-adjusted analyses, indicating that higher HCCs are associated with shorter LTL. Using polynomial regression, we found a curvilinear relationship indicating a stronger negative association at lower cortisol concentrations. Higher HCCs were associated with shorter LTL, supporting the hypothesized involvement of prolonged cortisol secretion in telomere attrition. Thus, HCC may prove useful as a biological indicator of chronic stress associated with aging-related processes in samples exposed to high levels of stress. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-10T23:22:25Z |
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| id | doaj.art-ad94594006d34a5189d8fcae532d7857 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2045-2322 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-10T23:22:25Z |
| publishDate | 2022-07-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Scientific Reports |
| spelling | doaj.art-ad94594006d34a5189d8fcae532d78572022-12-22T01:29:42ZengNature PortfolioScientific Reports2045-23222022-07-011211810.1038/s41598-022-14905-4Higher hair cortisol concentrations associated with shorter leukocyte telomere length in high-risk young adultsDavid Bürgin0Nimmy Varghese1Anne Eckert2Vera Clemens3Eva Unternährer4Cyril Boonmann5Aoife O’Donovan6Marc Schmid7Psychiatric University Hospitals, Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Research Department (UPKKJ), University of BaselNeurobiological Laboratory for Brain Aging and Mental Health, Transfaculty Research Platform, University of BaselNeurobiological Laboratory for Brain Aging and Mental Health, Transfaculty Research Platform, University of BaselDepartment for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry/Psychotherapy, University Hospital UlmPsychiatric University Hospitals, Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Research Department (UPKKJ), University of BaselPsychiatric University Hospitals, Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Research Department (UPKKJ), University of BaselDepartment of Psychiatry and Weill Institute for Neurosciences, University of California San FranciscoPsychiatric University Hospitals, Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Research Department (UPKKJ), University of BaselAbstract Chronic stress is associated with accelerated biological aging as indexed by short age-adjusted leukocyte telomere length (LTL). Exploring links of biological stress responses with LTL has proved challenging due to the lack of biological measures of chronic psychological stress. Hair cortisol concentration (HCC) has emerged as a measure of chronic hypothalamic pituitary adrenal (HPA) axis activation, allowing the examination of relationships between aggregate cortisol concentrations over time and LTL. Our sample includes 92 participants (38% women, Mage = 26 ± 3.7 years) from a high-risk sample of young adults with previous residential care placements. Two cm hair was collected for HCC, reflecting approximately eight weeks of cortisol secretion. LTL was measured with quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) in whole blood samples. All samples for LTL were run in triplicate and assayed twice. Linear and polynomial regression models were used to describe the association between HCC and LTL, adjusting for age and sex. HCC and LTL showed negative associations (std. ß = − 0.67, 95% CI [− 0.83, − 0.52], p < .001) in age- and sex-adjusted analyses, indicating that higher HCCs are associated with shorter LTL. Using polynomial regression, we found a curvilinear relationship indicating a stronger negative association at lower cortisol concentrations. Higher HCCs were associated with shorter LTL, supporting the hypothesized involvement of prolonged cortisol secretion in telomere attrition. Thus, HCC may prove useful as a biological indicator of chronic stress associated with aging-related processes in samples exposed to high levels of stress.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-14905-4 |
| spellingShingle | David Bürgin Nimmy Varghese Anne Eckert Vera Clemens Eva Unternährer Cyril Boonmann Aoife O’Donovan Marc Schmid Higher hair cortisol concentrations associated with shorter leukocyte telomere length in high-risk young adults Scientific Reports |
| title | Higher hair cortisol concentrations associated with shorter leukocyte telomere length in high-risk young adults |
| title_full | Higher hair cortisol concentrations associated with shorter leukocyte telomere length in high-risk young adults |
| title_fullStr | Higher hair cortisol concentrations associated with shorter leukocyte telomere length in high-risk young adults |
| title_full_unstemmed | Higher hair cortisol concentrations associated with shorter leukocyte telomere length in high-risk young adults |
| title_short | Higher hair cortisol concentrations associated with shorter leukocyte telomere length in high-risk young adults |
| title_sort | higher hair cortisol concentrations associated with shorter leukocyte telomere length in high risk young adults |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-14905-4 |
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