Longitudinal association of telomere length and obesity indices in an intervention study with a Mediterranean diet: the PREDIMED-NAVARRA trial

Background: Telomeres are nucleoprotein structures that protect the ends of eukaryote chromosomes. Shorter telomere length (TL) is associated with some age-related human disorders, but its relationship with obesity or adiposity parameters remains unclear. Objective: The aim of this study was to assess the relationship between TL and changes in adiposity indices after a 5-year nutritional intervention. Design and subjects: TL was measured by quantitative real-time PCR in 521 subjects (55-80 years, 55% women). Participants were randomly selected from the PREDIMED-NAVARRA centre after they completed a 5-year intervention programme. Anthropometric parameters were directly measured by trained pe…