Is bipolar disorder associated with accelerating aging? A meta-analysis of telomere length studies

- Bipolar disorder is associated with a shortened life expectancy.
- A model of accelerated aging has been proposed as an explanation for this finding.
- We compared telomere length in bipolar patients vs. controls through meta-analysis.
- Telomere length did not differ between bipolar patients vs. controls.
- Future studies should control for confounders (e.g., illness stage).

BackgroundBipolar disorder (BD) is associated with a reduced life expectancy compared to the general population mainly due to a high prevalence of comorbid somatic illnesses. A model of accelerated aging has been proposed as a potential explanation to these epidemiological findings. Nevertheless, studies measuring telomere length (TL) in patients with BD compared to healthy controls have provided mixed results.ObjectiveTo compare TL between BD patients and healthy controls, and to search for potential modeP