The association between visceral adiposity index and leukocyte telomere length in adults: results from National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey

Background Leukocyte telomere length (LTL) is a robust marker of biological aging, which is associated with obesity. Recently, the visceral adiposity index (VAI) has been proposed as an indicator of adipose distribution and function. Objective To evaluated the association between VAI and LTL in adult Americans. Methods There were 3193 participants in U.S. National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (1999–2002) included in this analysis. LTL was measured using quantitative PCR (qPCR) and expressed as telomere to single-gene copy ratio (T/S ratio). We performed multiple logistic regression models to explore the association between VAI and LTL by adjusting for potential confounders. Results Among all participants, VAI was associated with the shorter LTL (β: – 14.81, 95% CI – 22.28 to – 7.34, p < 0.001). There were significant differences of LTL in VAI tertiles ( p < 0.001). Participants in the higher VAI tertile had the shorter LTL (1.26 ≤ VAI < 2.46: β = – 130.16, 95% CI [ – 183.44, – 76.87]; VAI ≥ 2.46: β = – 216.12, 95% CI [ – 216.12, – 81.42], p for trend: < 0.001) comparing with the lower VAI tertile. We also found a non-linear relationship between VAI and LTL. VAI was negatively correlated with LTL when VAI was less than 2.84. Conclusions The present study demonstrates that VAI is independently associated with telomere length. A higher VAI is associated with shorter LTL. The results suggest that VAI may provide prediction for LTL and account for accelerating the biological aging.