The Association Between Telomere Length and Diabetes Mellitus: Accumulated Evidence From Observational Studies
Xinxin He, Lu Cao, Xueru Fu, Yuying Wu, Hongwei Wen, Yajuan Gao, Weifeng Huo, Mengdi Wang, Mengna Liu, Yijia Su, Ge Liu, Ming Zhang, Fulan Hu, Dongsheng Hu, Yang Zhao
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: In order to assess the associations between telomere length (TL) and diabetes mellitus (DM), especially type 2 diabetes (T2DM), we performed this systematic review and meta-analysis. METHODS: PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science were thoroughly searched up to July 11, 2023. The pooled standardized mean difference (SMD) and the 95% confidence interval (CI) were evaluated using the random-effects model. Age, sex, study design, duration of diabetes, region, sample size, and body mass index (BMI) were used to stratify subgroup analyses. RESULTS: A total of 37 observational studies involving 18 181 participants from 14 countries were included in the quantitative meta-analysis. In this study, patients with diabetes had shorter TL than the non-diabetic, whether those patients had T1DM (-2.70; 95% CI: -4.47, -0.93; P < .001), T2DM (-3.70; 95% CI: -4.20, -3.20; P < .001), or other types of diabetes (-0.71; 95% CI: -1.10, -0.31; P < .001). Additionally, subgroup analysis of T2DM showed that TL was significantly correlated with age, sex, study design, diabetes duration, sample size, detection method, region, and BMI. CONCLUSION: A negative correlation was observed between TL and DM. To validate this association in the interim, more extensive, superior prospective investigations and clinical trials are required.