SYSTEMATIC REVIEW article
Front. Physiol.
Sec. Exercise Physiology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fphys.2025.1627292
This article is part of the Research TopicStrategies for Combatting Age-Related Decline through Targeted Exercise ProgramsView all articles
Exercise delays aging: evidence from telomeres and telomerase -A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials
Provisionally accepted
- 1Southwest University, Chongqing, China
- 2Chongqing mining engineering school, Chongqing, China
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To systematically evaluate the regulatory effects of exercise intervention on telomere length (TL) and telomerase activity (TA), and to provide evidence for formulating precise exercise prescriptions based on telomere protection.Databases including China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Wanfang, VIP, PubMed, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, and Embase were searched to collect randomized controlled trials (RCTs) regarding the regulation of TL and TA by exercise intervention up to February 2025. The Cochrane risk assessment tool was used to evaluate the quality of the included literature. Meta-analysis, heterogeneity test, subgroup analysis, sensitivity analysis, univariate meta-regression analysis, and publication bias test were conducted using Review Manager 5.3 and Stata 18.0 software.Exercise intervention significantly maintained TL (SMD = 0.59, 95% CI: 0.14-1.06, P = 0.01) and enhanced TA (SMD = 0.35, 95% CI: 0.20-0.51, P < 0.00001). A single study suggests high-intensity interval training (HIIT) may maintain TL (SMD = 0.66, P = 0.01), but this requires further validation due to limited evidence. Aerobic exercise (AE) consistently increased TA (SMD = 0.33, P = 0.0001), while resistance exercise (RE) showed non-significant trends (SMD = 0.16, P = 0.43). Subgroup analysis by sex showed a trend toward greater TL maintenance in females (SMD = 0.48, P = 0.06) compared to males (SMD = 0.38, P = 0.40). An exercise duration of ≥16 weeks was necessary for significant effects. High heterogeneity (I2 = 92% for TL) was partially explained by measurement methods, age, and baseline health.Exercise maintains TL and enhances TA, potentially contributing to delayed aging. AE shows robust effects on TA, while HIIT and RE require further research due to limited studies. Future studies should standardize measurement methods and explore confounders like diet and genetics.
Keywords: Exercise, Aging, telomeres, Telomerase, meta analysis
Received: 12 May 2025; Accepted: 18 Jun 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Sun, Zhang, Yang, Luo, Wang and Luo. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Liang Sun, Southwest University, Chongqing, China
Jiong Luo, Southwest University, Chongqing, China
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