Relationship Between Body Composition and Smoking Habit with Telomere Length of Minangkabau Ethnicity Men, in West Sumatera, Indonesia

Abstract

Background and objective: An increase in body composition and smoking habit are risk factors for high free radical levels in the body. This can lead to oxidative stress, due to the imbalance of pro-oxidants and oxidants in the body that leads to telomere shortening. The purpose of this research was to investigate the correlation between body composition and smoking habit with telomere length of men in West Sumatera, Indonesia.

Materials and methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in Padang City using a sample of 130 Minangkabau ethnic district civil servant men aged between 40-50 years. The smoking habit were collected using a questionnaire, body composition data with bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) and blood sample analysis using O'Callaghan and Fenech's technique to measure telomere length.

Results: This research indicated an average telomere length was 580.37±323.58 bp, BMI was 25.01±4.15 and percentage body fat was 22.06±6.16%. The proportion of subjects who smoke is 58.5% with heavy smoker 26.3%. The average length of smoked cigarettes was 25.2±7.3 years and the average of cigarette consumption is 270.58±343.18. There were no correlations between BMI and body fat percentage with telomere length (p>0.005). There is a negative correlation were significantly between smoking duration with telomere length (r = -0.270, p = 0.020). Telomere loss was 94.39 bp throughout the life-span equivalent to losing 3.4-3.8 years.

Conclusion: Body composition is not a risk factor but smoking duration is a risk factor for telomere shortening in ethnic Minangkabau men.

Keywords: Telomere length; body composition; life span of smoker; smoking habit; telomere shortening.