Psychological Stress Affects Telomeres, Cell Health

One of the ways in which stress affects health is by reducing the length of telomeres on chromosomes. This makes cells age faster, and lead to a host of side-effects, said investigators at the University of California in San Francisco (USCF) in a recent presentation.

Their newest study was showcased yesterday, April 4, at the 102nd annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR 2011). The conference takes place between April 2-6, in Orlando, Florida.

Telomeres are protective caps at the ends of chromosomes, that play a role in cell division, and in ensuring that genetic material is correctly passed on between copies of each cell.

Researchers determined that damage brought to telomeres plays a role in affecting cell health. They also found that regular exercises can help prevent this type of damage, delaying cell death.

During the experiments, the UCSF team focused on post-menopausal women, adults with post-traumatic stress disorders (PTSD) and healthy women aged 50 to 65, who did not smoke. Experts say that these groups were the most relevant to their research.

They looked primarily at the immune system, and more specifically at leukocytes (white blood cells). These cells play a critical role in protecting the human body against microbes, bacteria and viruses.

“Our findings suggest that traumatic and chronic stressful life events are associated with shortening of telomeres in cells of the immune system, but that physical activity may moderate this impact,” explains expert Jue Lin, PhD.

The UCSF associate research biochemist is also a coauthor of the new study. The expert conducted the research in the lab of UCSF professor of biochemistry and biophysics Elizabeth Blackburn, PhD. The latter is a laureate of the 2009 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine.

She explains that, each time a cell divides, telomeres lose a little bit of their length. Whenever a certain length threshold is reached, the structures become unable to support additional division, and cells die.

Past studies have demonstrated that reduced telomere length is related to the development of a large number of age-related conditions, including a variety of cancer types and cardiovascular diseases.

“We saw a relationship between childhood trauma and short telomere length but the relationship seems to go away in people who exercise vigorously at least three times a week,” Lin told the conference.

The take-away conclusion from this research is that, regardless of the influence that external factors may have, stress and the damage it produces on telomeres can be compensated for by physical exercises, Science Blog reports.