Gao X, Li S, Dong S, et al. - In the present study, the researchers sought to dissect the direct effect of body mass index (BMI) and its indirect effect via C-reactive protein (CRP) on leukocyte telomere length (LTL) in order to determine the mediation effect of CRP on the BMI-LTL association. The sample consisted of 5,451 adults (1,404 Mexican Americans, 3,114 Whites, and 933 Blacks; 53.5% males; mean age =49.2 years) from the 1999-2002 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. After adjusting for age, race, gender, physical activity, alcohol use, and serum cotinine, the total effect of BMI on LTL was significant even when CRP was not included in the model. Such findings imply that the inverse BMI-LTL relationship is mediated in part by obesity-induced inflammation. The significant direct effect of BMI on LTL after removing the mediation effect through CRP suggests that obesity is associated with LTL attrition via other non-inflammatory mechanisms as well.