Relative Telomere Length and Cardiovascular Risk Factors.

Moritz Koriath,Dirk Westermann,Thomas Münzel,Norbert Pfeiffer,Christian Müller,Steffen Rapp,Mahir Karakas,Karl J Lackner,Stefan Blankenberg,Manfred Beutel,Philipp S Wild,Tanja Zeller,Irene Schmidtmann,Stefan Nickels

doi:10.3390/biom9050192

Abstract

(1) Background: Telomeres are repetitive DNA sequences located at the extremities of chromosomes that maintain genetic stability. Telomere biology is relevant to several human disorders and diseases, specifically cardiovascular disease. To better understand the link between cardiovascular disease and telomere length, we studied the effect of relative telomere length (RTL) on cardiovascular risk factors in a large population-based sample. (2) Methods: RTL was measured by a real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction in subjects of the population-based Gutenberg Health Study (n = 4944). We then performed an association study of RTL with known cardiovascular risk factors of smoking status as well as systolic and diastolic blood pressure, body mass index (BMI), LDL cholesterol, HDL cholesterol, and triglycerides. (3) Results: A significant correlation was shown for RTL, with age as a quality control in our study (effect = −0.004, p = 3.2 × 10−47). Analysis of the relation between RTL and cardiovascular risk factors showed a significant association of RTL in patients who were current smokers (effect = −0.016, p = 0.048). No significant associations with RTL were seen for cardiovascular risk factors of LDL cholesterol (p = 0.127), HDL cholesterol (p = 0.713), triglycerides (p = 0.359), smoking (p = 0.328), diastolic blood pressure (p = 0.615), systolic blood pressure (p = 0.949), or BMI (p = 0.903). In a subsequent analysis, we calculated the tertiles of RTL. No significant difference across RTL tertiles was detectable for BMI, blood pressure, lipid levels, or smoking status. Finally, we studied the association of RTL and cardiovascular risk factors stratified by tertiles of age. We found a significant association of RTL and LDL cholesterol in the oldest tertile of age (effect = 0.0004, p = 0.006). (4) Conclusions: We determined the association of relative telomere length and cardiovascular risk factors in a population setting. An association of telomere length with age, current smoking status, as well as with LDL cholesterol in the oldest tertile of age was found, whereas no associations were observed between telomere length and triglycerides, HDL cholesterol, blood pressure, or BMI.

Highlights

IntroductionTelomeres are special structures at the ends of chromosomes
Telomeres are special structures at the ends of chromosomes.They function as a chromosome-capping mechanism that protects the chromosomes from degradation
To broaden the understanding of the relation between Telomere length (TL) and cardiovascular risk factors, we studied the effect of relative telomere length (RTL) in leucocytes on cardiovascular risk factors in a large population-based sample

Summary

Introduction

Telomeres are special structures at the ends of chromosomes. They function as a chromosome-capping mechanism that protects the chromosomes from degradation. Telomeres maintain genomic stability through fusion and prevent cellular senescence or apoptosis. In patients of advanced age, a correlation of telomere length has been found, amongst others, with cancer [7,8,9], diabetes [10], and cardiovascular disease (CVD) [11,12]. The association of TL with CVD was reported in different studies [11]. In study of over 60,000 Danish individuals, shorter TL was associated with an elevated hazard ratio for ischemic heart disease [12]

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Discussion

Conclusion