Telomeri e multivitaminici

La lunghezza dei telomeri è considerata un marker dell'età biologica.
Gli individui che presentano un maggiore accorciamento dei telomeri sono più soggetti a patologie croniche ed hanno una mortalità più elevata.
In un recente articolo pubblicato online sull'American Journal of Clinical Nutrition si dimostra per la prima volta il riscontro di telomeri più lunghi nei soggetti che fanno uso di multivitaminici.

Results: After age and other potential confounders were adjusted for, multivitamin use was associated with longer telomeres. Compared with nonusers, the relative telomere length of leukocyte DNA was on average 5.1% longer among daily multivitamin users (P for trend = 0.002). In the analysis of micronutrients, higher intakes of vitamins C and E from foods were each associated with longer telomeres, even after adjustment for multivitamin use. Furthermore, intakes of both nutrients were associated with telomere length among women who did not take multivitamins.

Conclusion: This study provides the first epidemiologic evidence that multivitamin use is associated with longer telomere length among women.

Qun Xu, Christine G Parks, Lisa A DeRoo, Richard M Cawthon, Dale P Sandler, and Honglei Chen
Multivitamin use and telomere length in women
Published March 11, 2009; doi:10.3945/ajcn.2008.26986