Land use mix and leukocyte telomere length in Mexican Americans

It has been well-known that built environment features influence the risk of chronic diseases. However, the existing data of its relationship with telomere length, a biomarker of biological aging, is still limited, with no study available for Mexican Americans. This study investigates the relationship between several factors of the built environment with leukocyte telomere length among 5508 Mexican American adults enrolled in Mano-A-Mano, the Mexican American Cohort Study (MACS). Based on the quartile levels of telomere length, the study population was categorized into four groups, from the lowest (1st quartile) to the highest telomere length group (4th quartile). For individual built environment factors, their levels did not differ significantly across four groups. However, in the multinominal logistic regression analysis, increased Rundle’s land use mixture (LUM) and Frank’s LUM were found statistically significantly associated with increased odds of having high levels of telomere length (Rundle’s LUM: 2nd quartile: Odds ratio (OR) 1.26, 95% Confidence interval (CI) 1.07, 1.48; 3rd quartile: OR 1.25, 95% CI 1.06, 1.46; 4th quartile: OR 1.19, 95% CI 1.01, 1.41; Frank’s LUM: 2nd quartile: OR 1.34, 95% CI 1.02, 2.63; 3rd quartile: OR 1.55, 95% CI 1.04, 2.91; 4th quartile: OR 1.36, 95% CI 1.05, 2.72, respectively). The associations for Rundle’s LUM remained significant after further adjusting other non-redundant built environment factors. Finally, in stratified analysis, we found the association between Rundle’s LUM and telomere length was more evident among younger individuals (< 38 years old), women, and those with obesity, born in Mexico, having low levels of physical activity, and having low levels of acculturation than their relative counterparts. In summary, our results indicate that land use mixture may impact telomere length in leukocytes in Mexican Americans.