Differences in Leukocyte Telomere Length between Coronary Heart Disease and Normal Population: A Multipopulation Meta-Analysis

Abstract

Coronary heart disease (CHD) is one of the most common causes of death in the world. Numerous studies have shown that as the degree of atherosclerotic disease increases, leukocyte telomere length gradually decreases. Short telomeres increase the risk of all-cause death and cardiovascular death. However, the reported results are not consistent, since the experimental design method, the measurement method, and the disease outcome are different. Therefore, we searched five major literature databases (Pubmed, Web of science, Embase, CNKI, and Wangfang) and finally included 18 eligible articles (including 5,150 patients with CHD and 9341 controls). We found that telomere length in patients with CHD was significantly shorter than that in controls, and the telomere length was inversely correlated with the severity of CHD. Subgroup analysis showed that telomere shortening was the most significant in Asian patients with CHD, in CHD patients with an average age <65 years, and in men with CHD. The mechanism of shortening the telomere length leading to the occurrence and development of CHD is worthy of further study.

Placental and Cord Blood Telomere Length in Relation to Maternal Nutritional Status

“…Still, the telomeres have a certain degree of plasticity, and recent studies show that the uterine environment may influence fetal telomere length (TL) ( 6–8 ). This is important to study, since TL at birth is a main predictor for TL throughout life ( 6 , 9 , 10 ), and TL later in life is associated with the risk of several outcomes, such as cancer and cardiovascular diseases ( 11 , 12 ). There is emerging evidence that factors such as maternal stress ( 13 , 14 ), inflammation ( 15 ), gestational diabetes ( 16 ), exposure to air pollution ( 17 , 18 ), tobacco smoke ( 19 ), and toxic metals ( 20 ) may influence offspring TL.…”

Telomere Length as a Marker of Biological Age: State-of-the-Art, Open Issues, and Future Perspectives

“…In epidemiological studies, TL was repeatedly found to reflect the risk for aging-related chronic pathological conditions. In patients with coronary heart disease, TLs were found to be significantly shorter than that in controls; moreover, TL was inversely correlated with the severity of this disease (Xu et al, 2019 ). The convincing evidence was obtained that short telomeres are indicative of higher risk for atherosclerosis and related vascular complications (De Meyer et al, 2018 ; Herrmann and Herrmann, 2020 ).…”

Results of a preliminary study on the effects of a compound on telomeres length, biological and physiological parameters

“…The increase in arterial stiffness has been validated as a strong independent marker of cardiovascular mortality in both hypertensive and normotensive patients [23]. Several studies have demonstrated a formal link between telomere length and senescence, including endothelial cells [24], but also with numerous cardiovascular atherosclerotic pathologies [25][26][27]. The respective roles of chronic infl ammation, oxidative stress, and telomere shortening on the occurrence of atherosclerosis remain debatable [28,29].…”