Telomere Length, Current Perceived Stress, and Urinary Stress Hormones in Women

Abstract

Telomeres are repetitive DNA sequences that cap and protect the ends of chromosomes; critically short telomeres may lead to cellular senescence or carcinogenic transformation. Previous findings suggest a link between psychosocial stress, shorter telomeres, and chronic disease risk. This cross-sectional study examined relative telomere length in relation to perceived stress and urinary stress hormones in a sample of participants (n = 647) in the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences Sister Study, a cohort of women ages 35 to 74 years who have a sister with breast cancer. Average leukocyte telomere length was determined by quantitative PCR. Current stress was assessed using the Perceived Stress Scale and creatinine-adjusted neuroendocrine hormones in first morning urines. Linear regression models estimated differences in telomere length base pairs (bp) associated with stress measures adjusted for age, race, smoking, and obesity. Women with higher perceived stress had somewhat shorter telomeres [adjusted difference of À129bp for being at or above moderate stress levels; 95% confidence interval (CI), À292 to 33], but telomere length did not decrease monotonically with higher stress levels. Shorter telomeres were independently associated with increasing age (À27bp/ year), obesity, and current smoking. Significant stressrelated differences in telomere length were seen in women ages 55 years and older (À289bp; 95% CI, À519 to À59), those with recent major losses (À420bp; 95% CI, À814 to À27), and those with above-average urinary catecholamines (e.g., epinephrine: À484bp; 95% CI, À709 to À259). Although current perceived stress was only modestly associated with shorter telomeres in this broad sample of women, our findings suggest the effect of stress on telomere length may vary depending on neuroendocrine responsiveness, external stressors, and age. (Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2009;18(2):551 -60)

Shorter telomeres with high telomerase activity are associated with raised allostatic load and impoverished psychosocial resources

“…The numbers of men and women in the short TL/high TA groups were similar, but there was no indication of comparable trends in physiological responses (Tables S1 and S2). Studies relating shorter telomeres to life stress have involved both men and women (10,11,14,18,20). Previous research relating telomeres to acute physiological stress responses have been carried out with female but not male samples (15,21,24), although associations between health risk and the combination of shorter telomeres and raised TA have been reported in both men and women (16,25).…”

“…One of the factors thought to influence telomere dynamics is psychosocial stress (10,11). Epel et al (12) demonstrated that the severe stress experienced by mothers of chronically ill children was correlated with reduced leukocyte TL.…”

“…Epel et al (12) demonstrated that the severe stress experienced by mothers of chronically ill children was correlated with reduced leukocyte TL. Subsequently, other studies have documented associations between early life stress, current perceived stress, mood disorders, and reduced TL in adults (10,13,14). There is also limited research on responses to acute mental stress indicating that greater cortisol responses to acute laboratory challenges are associated with shorter telomeres (15).…”

Stress exposure in intrauterine life is associated with shorter telomere length in young adulthood

“…Several cross-sectional studies in humans have reported associations between telomere biology and high levels of psychosocial stress exposure (8,17,18) or stress biomarkers (17,19), suggesting that stress-related changes in telomere integrity may be one possible mechanism linking psychosocial stress and agerelated disease (20). Experimentally, high levels of cortisol exposure (a potent stress hormone) have been shown to dampen telomerase activity in leukocytes (21).…”

Mindfulness‐based cancer recovery and supportive‐expressive therapy maintain telomere length relative to controls in distressed breast cancer survivors

“…5 The earliest studies demonstrated associations between naturally occurring stressors and telomere biology in noncancer samples, in which stress was associated with shorter TL and lower telomerase activity. 15,16 Although stress plays a role in the etiology and progression of many diseases, [17][18][19] the role of stress in cancer remains suggestive. 20,21 Nonetheless, several biobehavioral pathways between psychosocial stress and mechanisms of cancer development have been indentified.…”