Telomere shortening with aging in human thyroid and parathyroid tissue

Abstract

Progressive telomere shortening with aging was studied using normal thyroid tissue specimens from 46 human subjects aged between 0 and 98yr and normal parathyroid tissue specimens from 21 human subjects aged between 0 and 83yrs. There has hitherto been no information documented about telomere length in such thyroid and parathyroid tissues. Age-related shortening at rates of 91 and 92base pairs (bp) per year, respectively, were observed. Telomere lengths of normal thyroid tissues were 16.53±1.10 (mean±SE), 14.31±0.80, 11.27±0.68 and 8.73±1.08kbp for age groups less than 2, 20–50, 51–80 and more than 80yr. Telomere lengths of normal parathyroid tissues were 15.80±1.46 (mean±SE), 15.36±0.86 and 10.93±0.78kbp for age groups less than 4, 20–50 and 51–80yr. Telomere shortening occurred after 50yr of age in thyroid and parathyroid tissues. Human thyroid and parathyroid tissues do not seem to show the rapid reduction in telomere length early in life that was reported for some human cell types, suggesting that the rate of telomere shortening has tissue-specific characteristics.