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Dietary patterns and practices and leucocyte telomere length: Findings from the UK Biobank

  • Vasiliki Bountziouka
    Correspondence
    Corresponding author: Vasiliki Bountziouka, Department of Food Science and Nutrition, University of the Aegean, Ierou Lochou 10 & Makrygianni, 81400, Lemnos, Greece. , tel: +30 22540 83133
    Affiliations
    Hon Research Fellow, Department of Cardiovascular Sciences, University of Leicester, Leicester, UK; and NIHR Leicester Biomedical Research Centre, Glenfield Hospital, Leicester, UK

    Assistant Professor in Biostatistics, Department of Food Science and Nutrition, University of the Aegean, Lemnos, GR
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  • Christopher P. Nelson
    Affiliations
    Associate Professor in Cardiovascular Genetic Epidemiology, Department of Cardiovascular Sciences, University of Leicester, Leicester, UK; and NIHR Leicester Biomedical Research Centre, Glenfield Hospital, Leicester, UK
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  • Qingning Wang
    Affiliations
    Research Associate, Department of Cardiovascular Sciences, University of Leicester, Leicester, UK; and NIHR Leicester Biomedical Research Centre, Glenfield Hospital, Leicester, UK
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  • Crispin Musicha
    Affiliations
    Research Fellow in Medical Statistics, Peninsula Medical School, Faculty of Health, University of Plymouth
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  • Veryan Codd
    Affiliations
    Associate Professor, Department of Cardiovascular Sciences, University of Leicester, Leicester, UK; and NIHR Leicester Biomedical Research Centre, Glenfield Hospital, Leicester, UK
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  • Nilesh J. Samani
    Affiliations
    Professor of Cardiology, Department of Cardiovascular Sciences, University of Leicester, Leicester, UK; and NIHR Leicester Biomedical Research Centre, Glenfield Hospital, Leicester, UK
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Published:January 16, 2023DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jand.2023.01.008
Dietary patterns and practices and leucocyte telomere length: Findings from the UK Biobank
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      Abstract

      Background

      Shorter telomere length (TL) is associated with risk of several age-related diseases and decreased lifespan, but the extent to which dietary patterns and practices associate with TL is uncertain.

      Objective

      This study aimed to investigate the association of dietary patterns and practices and leucocyte TL (LTL).

      Design

      This was a cross-sectional study.

      Participants

      / setting: Data collected voluntarily from up to 422,797 UK Biobank participants, during 2006-2010.

      Main outcome measures

      LTL was measured as a ratio of the telomere repeat number to a single–copy gene and was loge-transformed and standardised (z-LTL).

      Statistical analysis

      A-priori adherence to the Mediterranean diet was assessed through the MedDietScore. Principal component analysis was used to a-posteriori extract the “Meat” and “Prudent” dietary patterns. Additional dietary practices considered were the self-reported adherence to “Vegetarian” diet, “Eating 5-a-day of fruit and vegetables” and “Abstaining from eggs/dairy/wheat/sugar”. Associations between quintiles of dietary patterns or adherence to dietary practices with z-LTL were investigated through multivariable linear regression models (adjusted for demographic, lifestyle and clinical characteristics).

      Results

      Adherence to the “Mediterranean” and the “Prudent” patterns, was positively associated with LTL, with an effect magnitude in z-LTL of 0.020SD and 0.014SD, respectively, for the highest vs the lowest quintile of adherence to the pattern (both P<0.05). Conversely, a reversed association between quintile of the “Meat” pattern and LTL was observed, with z-LTL being on average shorter by 0.025SD (P=6.12x10-05) for participants in the highest quintile of the pattern compared to the lowest quintile. For adherents to “5-a-day” z-LTL was on average longer by 0.027SD (P=5.36x10-09), and for “abstainers”, LTL was shorter by 0.016SD (P=2.51x10-04). The association of LTL with a vegetarian diet was non-significant after adjustment for demographic, lifestyle and clinical characteristics.

      Conclusion

      Several dietary patterns and practices, associated with beneficial health effects, are significantly associated with longer LTL. However, the magnitude of the association was small, and any clinical relevance is uncertain.

      Keywords

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      Article info

      Publication history

      Accepted: January 12, 2023
      Received in revised form: January 3, 2023
      Received: July 3, 2022

      Publication stage

      In Press Accepted Manuscript

      Footnotes

      Contributions: VB and NJS conceptualised and designed this study; VB, QW, CM performed the data management; VB analysed and interpreted the data, with advice from CPN; VC, CPN and NJS were responsible for data acquisition; NJS acquired the financial support for the project leading to this publication; VB and NJS drafted the manuscript. All authors commented on subsequent drafts of the manuscript and critically reviewed it for important intellectual content and gave their final approval to the version to be published.

      Conflict of interest: The authors report no conflict of interest in relation to this work.

      Funding: This work was funded by the UK Medical Research Council (MRC), Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council and British Heart Foundation (BHF) through MRC grant MR/M012816/1. University of Leicester investigators are supported by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Leicester Cardiovascular Biomedical Research Centre (BRC-1215-20010). CPN is funded by the BHF (SP/16/4/32697).

      Acknowledgement: UK Biobank received approval from the North West Centre for Research Ethics Committee (11/NW/0382). The use of data presented in this paper was approved by the Access Committee of UKB under application number 6077.

      Research Snapshot

      Research Question: Are dietary patterns and practices independently associated with leucocyte telomere length (LTL)?

      Key Findings: Analysis of cross-sectional data from the UK Biobank suggests that adherence to “Mediterranean” or “Prudent” dietary patterns and a practice of “Eating 5-a-day” of fruit and vegetables were positively associated with LTL, whilst adherence to a “Meat intake” pattern or “Abstaining from eggs/dairy/wheat/sugar” was negatively associated with LTL, after adjustment for major lifestyle, clinical and social determinants of LTL. However, the magnitude of these associations was small and equivalent to about 1-year of age-related change in LTL.

      Identification

      DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jand.2023.01.008

      Copyright

      © 2023 by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.

      ScienceDirect

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