Association between telomere length and diabetes mellitus: A meta-analysis

Objective(:) We investigated the relationship between diabetes and telomere length by meta-analysis. Methods: We searched five popular databases for articles published between 1990 and 2015 using "diabetes" and "telomere" as search terms. Data were processed with RevMan5, and random-or fixed-effects meta-analysis was applied. The effects of geographical region, diabetes type, body mass index (BMI), age and sex were examined. Funnel plots were applied to evaluate publication bias. Results: Seventeen articles were obtained from 571 references. We identified a significant association between telomere length and diabetes mellitus (standardized mean difference [SMD]: -3.41; 95% confidence interval [CI]: -4.01, -2.80; heterogeneity, I-2 = 99%) by comparing 5575 patients with diabetes and 6349 healthy individuals. The pooled SMD by geographic region indicated a significant association between shortened telomere length and diabetes mellitus (SMD: -3.41; 95% CI: -4.01, -2.80; heterogeneity, I-2 = 99%). In addition, telomere length was significantly associated with age (SMD: -3.41; 95% CI: -4.01, -2.80), diabetes type (SMD: -3.41; 95% CI: -4.01, -2.80), BMI (SMD: -1.61; 95% CI: -1.98, -1.23) and sex (SMD: -4.94; 95% CI: -9.47, -0.40). Conclusions: The study demonstrated a close relationship between diabetes mellitus and telomere length, which was influenced by region, age, diabetes type, BMI and sex.