Leukocyte Telomere Length: A Potential Biomarker for the Prognosis of Coronary Artery Disease

Abstract

Background: Coronary artery disease(CAD) is a worldwide disease with high morbidity and mortality. There are many risk factors to predict the prognosis of CAD. We aimed to demonstrate the difference of leukocyte telomere length (LTL) between different types of CAD and illustrate the predictive value of LTL on the prognosis in patients with CAD. Methods: 366 patients hospitalized for coronary angiography were divided into three groups according to the CAD criteria and clinical manifestation: 98 stable angina pectoris (SAP), 144 unstable angina pectoris (UAP) and 124 acute myocardial infarction (AMI). Patients with a normal coronary artery diagnosed by coronary computed tomography angiography were chosen as the normal control (NC) group. LTL was measured using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). All patients were followed-up for 6 months to analysis major adverse cardiac events (MACEs). Findings: CAD patients had significantly shortened LTL comparing with NC group (p < 0.05). LTL in AMI patients were significantly shorter compared with the SAP and UAP group (p < 0.05). Area under the curve values of LTL for predicting MACEs was 0.769 (p < 0.001). Cox proportional hazards regression analysis revealed shorter LTL was an independent predictor of MACEs. Kaplan-Meier analysis suggested that a trend toward poorer event free survival rate was observed in shorter LTL group (p < 0.001). Interpretations: LTL was independently correlated with short-term MACEs and can be used for risk stratification of CAD patients. Funding Statement: Supported by Traditional Chinese Medicine Science and Technology Development Plan Project of Shandong Province (No. 2019-0891). Declaration of Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest. Ethics Approval Statement: The study was approved by the Medical Ethics Committee of Liaocheng People's Hospital. All procedures were in accordance with principles of Helsinki Declaration. Informed consent was obtained from all subjects.