Alcohol consumption and telomere length: observational and Mendelian randomization approaches

Anya Topiwala, Bernd Taschler, Klaus P. Ebmeier, Steve Smith, Hang Zhou, Daniel F Levey, Veryan Codd, Nilesh Samani,  Joel Gelernter, Thomas E. Nichols,  Stephen Burgess. 

Molecular Psychiatry. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41380-022-01690-9

Abstract

Alcohol’s impact on telomere length, a proposed marker of biological age, is unclear. We performed the largest observational study to date and compared findings with Mendelian randomization (MR) estimates. Two-sample MR used data from a recent genome-wide association study (GWAS) of telomere length. Genetic variants were selected on the basis of associations with alcohol consumption and alcohol use disorder (AUD). Non-linear MR employed UK Biobank individual data. MR analyses suggest a causal relationship between alcohol and telomere length: both genetically predicted alcohol traits were inversely associated with telomere length. 1 S.D. higher genetically-predicted log-transformed alcoholic drinks weekly had a -0.07 S.D. effect on telomere length (95% confidence interval [CI]:-0.14 to -0.01); genetically-predicted AUD - 0.06 S.D. effect (CI:-0.10 to -0.02). Results were consistent across methods and independent from smoking. Non-linear analyses indicated a potential threshold relationship between alcohol and telomere length. Our findings have implications for potential aging-related disease prevention strategies.

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Published June 22, 2022 9:54 AM - Last modified Aug. 4, 2022 12:00 PM