The association between visceral adiposity index and leukocyte telomere length in adults: results from National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.

Background: Leukocyte telomere length (LTL) is a robust marker of biological aging, which is associated with obesity. Recently, the visceral adiposity index (VAI) has been proposed as an indicator of adipose distribution and function. Objective: To evaluated the association between VAI and LTL in adult Americans. Methods: There were 3193 participants in U.S. National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (1999–2002) included in this analysis. LTL was measured using quantitative PCR (qPCR) and expressed as telomere to single-gene copy ratio (T/S ratio). We performed multiple logistic regression models to explore the association between VAI and LTL by adjusting for potential confounders. Results: Among all participants, VAI was associated with the shorter LTL (β: – 14.81, 95% CI – 22.28 to – 7.34, p < 0.001). There were significant differences of LTL in VAI tertiles (p < 0.001). Participants in the higher VAI tertile had the shorter LTL (1.26 ≤ VAI < 2.46: β = – 130.16, 95% CI [ – 183.44, – 76.87]; VAI ≥ 2.46: β = – 216.12, 95% CI [ – 216.12, – 81.42], p for trend: < 0.001) comparing with the lower VAI tertile. We also found a non-linear relationship between VAI and LTL. VAI was negatively correlated with LTL when VAI was less than 2.84. Conclusions: The present study demonstrates that VAI is independently associated with telomere length. A higher VAI is associated with shorter LTL. The results suggest that VAI may provide prediction for LTL and account for accelerating the biological aging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]