Relationships Between Telomere Length, Plasma Glucagon-like Peptide 1, and Insulin in Early-Life Stress–Exposed Nonhuman Primates

BACKGROUND: Early-life stress is associated with alterations in telomere length, a marker of accumulated stress and aging, and a risk factor for psychiatric disorders. Nonhuman primate maternal variable foraging demand (VFD) is a validated early-life stress model, resulting in anxiety- and depressive-like symptoms in offspring. Previous studies reported increased plasma glucagon-like peptide 1 (pGLP-1) along with insulin resistance in this model. We investigated whether VFD rearing related to adult telomere length and to these neuroendocrine markers. METHODS: Adult leukocyte telomere length was measured in VFD-reared (12 males, 13 females) and non-VFD–reared (9 males, 26 females) bonnet macaques. Associations between adult telomere length and adolescent fasting pGLP-1 or insulin resistance in VFD-reared versus non-VFD–reared groups were examined using regression modeling, controlling for sex, weight, and age. RESULTS: VFD subjects had relatively longer telomeres than non-VFD subjects (p = .017), and females relatively longer than males (p = .0004). Telomere length was positively associated with pGLP-1 (p = .0009) and with reduced insulin sensitivity (p < .0001) in both sexes, but not as a function of rearing group. CONCLUSIONS: Unexpectedly, VFD was associated with longer adult telomere length. Insulin resistance may lead to higher pGLP-1 levels in adolescence, which could protect telomere length in VFD offspring as adults. Associations between adult telomere length and adolescent insulin resistance and high pGLP-1 may reflect an adaptive, compensatory response after early-life stress exposure.