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Leukocyte telomere length is preserved with aging in endurance exercise-trained adults and related to maximal aerobic capacity
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

Leukocyte telomere length is preserved with aging in endurance exercise-trained adults and related to maximal aerobic capacity

Thomas J. LaRocca, Douglas R. Seals and Gary L. Pierce
Mechanisms of ageing and development, Vol.131(2), pp.165-167
02/01/2010
DOI: 10.1016/j.mad.2009.12.009
PMCID: PMC2845985
PMID: 20064545
url
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/2845985View
Open Access

Abstract

Telomere length (TL), a measure of replicative senescence, decreases with aging, but the factors involved are incompletely understood. To determine if age-associated reductions in TL are related to habitual endurance exercise and maximal aerobic exercise capacity (maximal oxygen consumption, VO(2)max), we studied groups of young (18-32 years; n = 15,7 male) and older (55-72 years; n = 15,9 male) sedentary and young (n = 10,7 male) and older (n = 17,11 male) endurance exercise-trained healthy adults. Leukocyte TL (LTL) was shorter in the older (7059 +/- 141 bp) vs. young (8407 +/- 218) sedentary adults (P < 0.01). LTL of the older endurance-trained adults (7992 +/- 169 bp) was 900 bp greater than their sedentary peers (P < 0.01) and was not significantly different (P = 0.12) from young exercise-trained adults (8579 +/- 413). LTL was positively related to VO(2)max as a result of a significant association in older adults (r = 0.44, P < 0.01). Stepwise multiple regression analysis revealed that VO(2)max was the only independent predictor of LTL in the overall group. Our results indicate that LTL is preserved in healthy older adults who perform vigorous aerobic exercise and is positively related to maximal aerobic exercise capacity. This may represent a novel molecular mechanism underlying the "anti-aging" effects of maintaining high aerobic fitness. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.
Cell Biology Geriatrics & Gerontology Life Sciences & Biomedicine Science & Technology

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