Table 1.
Summary of cross-sectional studies on PA and TL.
| Author, Reference | Year | Participants | TL Measurements | Tissue for TL Analysis | Exposure Assessment Methods | Results |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cassidy et al. [60] | 2010 | 2284 women from NHS | PCR | Blood | PA assessed by questionnaires | No association was observed between PA and TL |
| Dankel et al. [61] | 2017 | 4881 subjects from NHANES | PCR | Blood | PA assessed by questionnaires | PA was associated with increased TL, except among those who were overweight or obese |
| Ding et al. [62] | 2018 | 588 Chinese participants (18–64 y) | PCR | Blood | PA assessed by questionnaires | No associations were found between PA and TL |
| Du et al. [63] | 2012 | 7813 women (43–70 y) from NHS | PCR | Blood | PA assessed by questionnaires | Women with moderate or vigorous activity had a longer TL than less active |
| Fretts et al. [64] | 2018 | 2312 American Indian participants from SHFS | PCR | Blood | PA reported by pedometer | Participants in the upper PA quartiles had longer TL |
| Hastings et al. [65] | 2019 | 6731 participants from NHANES | PCR | Blood | PA determined with different tests (muscle strength, cardiorespiratory capacity (VO2) and walking speed | Participants with shorter telomeres performed worse on physical function tests |
| Kim et al. [66] | 2012 | 44 healthy postmenopausal women | PCR | Blood | PA reported by interview | Regular PA was associated with longer TL |
| Latifovic et al. [67] | 2016 | 477 subjects (20–50 y) | PCR | Blood | PA assessed by questionnaires | Vigorous PA related to longer TL |
| Loprinzi [68] | 2015 | 6405 participants from NHANES | PCR | Blood | Sedentary PA on screens (TV, computer …) reported by interview | Sedentary behavior based on screen free time was inversely associated with TL |
| Loprinzi et al. [69] | 2015 | 6503 participants from NHANES | PCR | Blood | PA reported by interview | Lower TL among those who performed less PA |
| Loprinzi et al. [70] | 2016 | 6474 participants from NHANES | PCR | Blood | PA reported by interview | The specific PA of running was the only activity associated with TL |
| Ogawa et al. [45] | 2017 | 6933 participants from NHANES | PCR | Blood | PA reported by interview and VO2max in subsample | Those who undertake vigorous PA present longer TL than those who practice moderate PA or do not perform PA |
| Sassenroth et al. [71] | 2015 | 815 participants from BASII | PCR | Blood | PA assessed by questionnaires | PA was associated with longer TL only when PA was regular and ≥10 y preceding the assessment |
| Savela et al. [72] | 2013 | 204 participants from HBS | SB | Blood | PA assessed by questionnaires | An U-shaped association was found. Moderate PA associated with longer TL |
| Shadyab et al. [73] | 2017 | 1476 elderly women from WHI | SB | Blood | PA assessed by questionnaires | Longer TL in the group of more active women compared to those who undertook less PA |
| Shadyab et al. [74] | 2017 | 1481 elderly women from WHI | SB | Blood | PA assessed by questionnaires and accelerometer | Longer sedentary time was associated with shorter TL in physically inactive older women |
| Shadyab et al. [75] | 2017 | 1405 elderly women from WHI | SB | Blood | PA assessed by questionnaires and accelerometer | Women at the highest level of total PA compared to the lowest level had longer TL, but significance was lost after adjustment for confounded terms |
| Silva et al. [76] | 2017 | Elderly subjects (65–85 y) with intense and moderate training, and never trained | Flow-FISH | Blood | PA assessed by questionnaires and VO2max | TL was longer in the intense training group compared to the untrained group |
| Song et al. [77] | 2010 | 170 subjects (18–80 y) | PCR ELISA |
Blood | PA assessed by questionnaires | PA was inversely correlated with biomarkers of DNA damage, and these biomarkers were negatively associated with TL |
| Tucker LA [46] | 2017 | 5.823 adults from NHANES | PCR | Blood | PA assessed by questionnaires | PA was inversely associated with TL. High levels of PA were associated with longer telomeres, with a biological aging of 9 y difference compared with the sedentary ones |
| von Känel et al. [78] | 2017 | African (n = 96) and Caucasian (n = 107) schoolteachers from SAABPAS | PCR | Blood | PA measured by accelerometry | Regular PA of different intensity was not directly associated with TL |
| Williams et al. [79] | 2017 | 5674 adults from NFBC | PCR | Blood | PA determined by physical tests | TL was associated with greater aerobic fitness and muscular endurance only in young adults |
| Xue et al. [80] | 2017 | 518 adults from China | SB | Blood | PA assessed by questionnaires | Watching TV was associated with shorter TL However, doing moderate or vigorous PA was not associated with TL |
TL: telomere length; bp: base pairs; PA: physical activity; y: years old; TV: television; h: hour; d: day; w: week; m: month; y: year; VO2max: maximal oxygen uptake; T2D: type 2 diabetes; ISRT: Individual Shear Rate Therapy; PCR: Polymerase Chain Reaction; SB: Southern blot analysis of terminal restriction fragment lengths (TRF); GE: gene expression; GWEA: genome-wide expression arrays; TERT: telomerase reverse transcriptase gene; WB: Western blotting; TERRA: telomeric repeat-containing RNA gene; FISH: fluorescence in situ hybridization; FACS: fluorescence activated cell sorting; NHS: Nurses’ Health Study; NHANES: National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey; SHFS: Strong Heart Family Study; BASII: Berlin Aging Study II; HBS: Helsinki Businessmen Study; WHI: Women’s Health Initiative Objective Physical Activity and Cardiovascular Health study; SAABPAS: Sympathetic activity and Ambulatory Blood Pressure in Africans study; NFBC: Northern Finland Birth Cohort.