Table 4.
Mediation of 5 inflammatory factors for the associations between telomere length and COPD
| M:CRP | P value | M: Fibrinogen | P value | M:WBC | P value | M:B-Neu | P value | M:B-Eos | P value | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| β(95%CI) | β(95%CI) | β(95%CI) | β(95%CI) | β(95%CI) | ||||||
| X → M | −0.337 (−0.490, −0.183) | < 0.001 | 0.006 (−0.022, 0.033) | 0.696 | −0.069 (−0.106, −0.032) | < 0.001 | −0.060 (−0.109, −0.011) | 0.016 | −0.049 (−0.128, 0.031) | 0.232 |
| M|X → Y | 0.193 (0.090, 0.296) | < 0.001 | 0.941 (0.367, 1.516) | 0.001 | 0.670 (0.242, 1.099) | 0.002 | 0.532 (0.200, 0.864) | 0.002 | 0.152 (−0.054, 0.358) | 0.148 |
| X|M → Y | −0.692 (−1.251, −0.133) | 0.015 | −0.767 (−1.326, −0.209) | 0.007 | −0.700 (−1.260, −0.141) | 0.014 | −0.723 (−1.283, −0.163) | 0.011 | −0.763 (−1.335, −0.191) | 0.009 |
| X → M → Y | −0.065 (−0.124, −0.026) | – | 0.005 (−0.021, 0.036) | – | −0.046 (−0.094, −0.017) | – | −0.032 (−0.077, −0.007) | – | −0.007 (−0.038, 0.003) | – |
X = telomere length; M = mediator (log-transformed CRP, fibrinogen, WBC, B-Neu or B-Eos); Y = COPD
Analytical process includes: 1) an effect of X on M (X → M); 2) an effect of M on Y controlling for X (M|X → Y); 3) a direct effect of X on Y, i.e. an effect of X on Y controlling for M (X|M → Y); and 4) an indirect effect of X on Y, i.e. an effect of X on Y mediated by M (X → M → Y). Each process was adjusted for age, sex, education, race, poverty income ratio, body mass index, smoking status, alcohol-use status