Telomere length is considered an indicator of biological aging, since 50-100 DNA bases are lost each time a cell replicates. For this study, the researchers used genetic variants that have previously been associated with alcohol consumption and alcohol use disorders in large-scale genome-wide association studies. The MR analysis also found a significant association between genetically-predicted alcohol-use disorder and telomere length, equivalent to around 3 years of aging. According to the research team, a potential biological mechanism to explain alcohol’s influence on telomere length is increased oxidative stress and inflammation. The full paper, 'Alcohol consumption and telomere length: Mendelian randomization clarifies alcohol’s effects', can be read in Molecular Psychiatry.
