Relationship Between Mean Leucocyte Telomere Length and Measures of Allostatic Load in US Reproductive-Aged Women, NHANES 1999-2002.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Reproductive health disparities may be partly explained by the cumulative effects of chronic stress experienced by socially disadvantaged groups. Although, telomere length (TL) and allostatic load score have each been used as biological markers of stress, the relationship between these two measures is unknown.

Methods

We investigated the association between leucocyte TL and allostatic load score in 1503 non-pregnant women (20-44 years) participating in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 1999-2002. We constructed six different allostatic load scores using either quartile- or clinical-based cut-points for 14 biomarkers based on previously published methods. We estimated associations between TL and allostatic load scores and component biomarkers us

SUBMITTER: Ahrens KA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6697084 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature