The ageing process is accompanied by the gradual development of chronic systemic inflammation (inflamm-ageing). Growth differentiation factor 15 (GDF15) is associated with inflammation and known to be a stress-induced factor. The present study aimed to explore the association of GDF15 with ageing. In this cross-sectional study, serum GDF15, hematological parameters, and biomedical parameters were determined in 120 healthy individuals (23–83 years old, males). Three telomere related parameters, including telomere length, telomerase activity, and the expression of human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) mRNA were also quantified. Our results showed that the older group has a higher levels of GDF15 and lower expression of hTERT mRNA, and PBMC telomerase activity (p < 0.001). In individuals with high GDF15 levels, they were older, and presented with the lower level of hTERT mRNA and T/S ratio (p < 0.01). Spearman correlation analysis shows that GDF15 positively correlated with age (r = 0.664, p < 0.001), and negatively correlated with telomere length (r = −0.434, p < 0.001), telomerase activity (r = −0.231, p = 0.012), and hTERT mRNA (r = −0.206, p = 0.024). Furthermore, in multivariate regression analysis, GDF15 levels showed a statistically significant linear and negative relationship with PBMC telomerase activity (β-coefficient = −0.583, 95% CI -1.044 to −0.122, p = 0.014), telomere length (β-coefficient = −0.200, 95% CI −0.305 to −0.094, p < 0.001), and hTERT mRNA (β-coefficient = −0.207, 95% CI −0.312 to −0.102, p < 0.001) after adjusting for confounders. These results support that circulating GDF15 is the potential biomarkers of ageing that may influence the risk and progression of multiple ageing conditions.

衰老过程伴随着慢性全身性炎症（炎症衰老）的逐渐发展。生长分化因子15（GDF15）与炎症相关，并且是压力诱导因子。本研究旨在探讨GDF15与衰老的关系。在这项横断面研究中，确定了120名健康个体（23-83岁，男性）中的血清GDF15，血液学参数和生物医学参数。还定量了三个端粒相关参数，包括端粒长度，端粒酶活性和人端粒酶逆转录酶（hTERT）mRNA的表达。我们的研究结果表明，年龄较大的组的GDF15水平较高，hTERT mRNA的表达较低，PBMC端粒酶活性较低（p <0.001）。在具有高GDF15水平的个体中，他们年龄较大，并且呈现出较低水平的hTERT mRNA和T / S比值（p  <0.01）。Spearman相关分析显示，GDF15与年龄呈正相关（r  = 0.664，p  <0.001），与端粒长度呈负相关（r  = -0.434，p  <0.001），端粒酶活性（r  = -0.231，p  = 0.012），和hTERT mRNA（r  = -0.206，p  = 0.024）。此外，在多元回归分析中，GDF15水平与PBMC端粒酶活性之间存在统计学上显着的线性和负相关关系（β-coefficient = -0.583，95％CI -1.044至-0.122，p  = 0.014），端粒长度（β -coefficient = -0.200，95％CI -0.305至-0.094，p  <0.001），和hTERT基因（β - 校正混杂因素后，系数= -0.207，95％CI -0.312至-0.102，p <0.001）。这些结果支持循环的GDF15是潜在的衰老生物标志物，可能会影响多种衰老条件的风险和进展。