The Evaluation of the Relationship of Klotho and Telomerase in Obese Patients

Objective: Obesity maintains its importance as an important public health problem with its increasing morbidity and mortality in all ages and social groups all over the world. A new protein Klotho, discovered in 1997, has an important role in the aging process. It has been already known that another factor related to aging is telomere length and telomerase activity. Telomere lengths shorten and aging occurs with decreasing telomerase activity. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the relationship between Klotho protein, telomerase enzyme activity, and obesity, which is a risk factor for aging.

Methods: A total of 39 obese patients and 42 normal-weight patients were included in the study. Three tubes of blood were collected from the participants to determine the expression levels of the human telomerase reverse transcriptase gene and the Klotho and glycated hemoglobin levels. The Statistical Package for the Social Sciences version 21 was used in the statistical analysis of the study data.

Results: Although no significant differences were detected between the obesity group and the control group in terms of Klotho levels, telomerase activity was decreased in the obese group. When the relationship between Klotho and telomerase in the obese and control group was compared, no statistically significant relationships were detected in either group.

Conclusion: Although the comorbidities brought by obesity pose a risk for aging, this could not be demonstrated in the present study in terms of Klotho level and telomerase activity. Further studies are needed on this subject.

Cite this article as: Pehlivan Köroğlu E, Göker Bağca B, Yıldırım Şimşir I, Gündüz C, Saygılı LF. The evaluation of the relationship of klotho and telomerase in obese patients. Turk J Endocrinol Metab. 2022;26(4):203-207.