Leucocyte telomere length and risk of cardiovascular disease: systematic review and meta-analysis

Haycock, Philip; Heydon, Emma E; Kaptoge, Stephen; Butterworth, Adam S.; Thompson, Alex; Willeit, Peter

doi:10.1136/bmj.g4227

Cited by 700 publications

(555 citation statements)

References 47 publications

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“…A recent meta-analysis suggests that individuals with observed short leukocyte telomeres are at an ∼80% increased risk of concurrent reports of cardiovascular disease and an ∼40% increased risk of developing cardiovascular disease in the future (7). Other recent meta-analyses support the concurrent associations between short telomeres and diabetes (8) and several cancers (9,10).…”

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confidence: 68%

“…We chose a binary outcome comparing the lower quartile of telomere length to all higher values for several reasons. First, we preferred to be consistent with previous large epidemiological cohort studies examining the association between telomere length with disease or mortality that use the qPCR method for telomere assays and categorize telomere length values into dichotomous variables (7,11,18). Second, research on qPCR compared with the flow-FISH method for telomere length measurement further demonstrates reduced qPCR sensitivity (40%) and specificity (63%) to detect accurate telomere length at the lowest decile (74).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The effect size of telomere length predicting disease is likely small, so these differences in study design would easily obscure effects. Confidence that telomeres are important to disease pathogenesis is increasing with recent Mendelian randomization studies demonstrating that genetic variants associated with shorter telomeres are associated with cardiovascular, pulmonary, and Alzheimer's diseases (23,24) and a recent meta-analysis that includes prospective associations between telomere length and cardiovascular disease (7). Considering the continued debate, however, there remains a significant need for more prospective, meta-analytic, and Mendelian randomization studies with nationally representative populations with other diseases and mortality as outcomes.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Lifespan adversity and later adulthood telomere length in the nationally representative US Health and Retirement Study

Puterman

Gemmill

Karasek

et al. 2016

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

143

102

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Stress over the lifespan is thought to promote accelerated aging and early disease. Telomere length is a marker of cell aging that appears to be one mediator of this relationship. Telomere length is associated with early adversity and with chronic stressors in adulthood in many studies. Although cumulative lifespan adversity should have bigger impacts than single events, it is also possible that adversity in childhood has larger effects on later life health than adult stressors, as suggested by models of biological embedding in early life. No studies have examined the individual vs. cumulative effects of childhood and adulthood adversities on adult telomere length. Here, we examined the relationship between cumulative childhood and adulthood adversity, adding up a range of severe financial, traumatic, and social exposures, as well as comparing them to each other, in relation to salivary telomere length. We examined 4,598 men and women from the US Health and Retirement Study. Single adversities tended to have nonsignificant relations with telomere length. In adjusted models, lifetime cumulative adversity predicted 6% greater odds of shorter telomere length. This result was mainly due to childhood adversity. In adjusted models for cumulative childhood adversity, the occurrence of each additional childhood event predicted 11% increased odds of having short telomeres. This result appeared mainly because of social/traumatic exposures rather than financial exposures. This study suggests that the shadow of childhood adversity may reach far into later adulthood in part through cellular aging. cellular aging | telomeres | lifespan adversity | childhood adversity A ging cells play a crucial role in the pathogenesis of noncommunicable diseases, and telomere shortening in cells plays a part of this aging process (1, 2). Telomeres are DNAprotein caps at the ends of chromosomes that protect genetic material from degradation, and their lengths indicate cellular aging (2, 3). Experiments in rodents implicate shortened telomeres and lower activity of telomerase, the enzyme that lengthens telomeres, as causes of mitochondrial and tissue damage associated with disease pathogenesis (4-6).Telomere length is linked cross-sectionally and prospectively with human disease states in many studies. A recent meta-analysis suggests that individuals with observed short leukocyte telomeres are at an ∼80% increased risk of concurrent reports of cardiovascular disease and an ∼40% increased risk of developing cardiovascular disease in the future (7). Other recent meta-analyses support the concurrent associations between short telomeres and diabetes (8) and several cancers (9, 10). Several studies indicate that short telomeres from varied sources, including leukocytes and saliva, are related to early mortality (11-17), including a study with >60,000 adults (18), although null studies also exist (19)(20)(21)(22).Although these studies suggest that telomere length plays a role in disease, they are observational, and studies directly linking genetics...

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confidence: 68%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Lifespan adversity and later adulthood telomere length in the nationally representative US Health and Retirement Study

Puterman

Gemmill

Karasek

et al. 2016

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

143

102

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“…Los telómeros más cortos están relacionados con una esperanza de vida más corta y un mayor riesgo de padecer enfermedades (1,(26)(27)(28). La longitud de los telómeros también se ve influida por el género; los telómeros en las mujeres son más largos en comparación con los hombres (29).…”

Section: Introductionunclassified

Telómeros Y Calidad De La Dieta: Una Revision Sistematica

Marti¹,

Echeverría

Morell‐Azanza

et al. 2017

Nutr Hosp

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Palabras clave:Telómeros. Dieta mediterránea. Estrés oxidative. ADN. ResumenFundamento: existen pocos estudios que hayan evaluado la relación entre la calidad de la dieta y la integridad telómerica en humanos. Los telómeros son regiones de ADN no codificante que se encuentran en los extremos de los cromosomas, cuya longitud además de indicar la esperanza de vida, indica el estado global de salud. El objetivo de la presente revisión sistemática es recopilar la evidencia existente sobre la relación entre la longitud de los telómeros y la calidad de la dieta para conocer el impacto que algunos nutrientes, alimentos y patrones dietéticos pueden tener sobre la homeostasis telomérica y por lo tanto, sobre la salud en general. Material y métodos: se realizó una revisión bibliográfica en la base de datos PubMed para identificar los artículos publicados (en inglés o español) hasta diciembre de 2016 que cumplían los siguientes criterios: incluían sujetos humanos; eran estudios transversales; estudios de casos y controles; estudios de cohortes prospectivos o estudios de intervención; que evaluaban la relación de los nutrientes, alimentos o patrones dietéticos con la longitud de los telómeros. La estrategia de búsqueda incluía las siguientes palabras clave: nutrients or food OR food groups OR diet OR dietary pattern OR eating pattern OR dietary habits OR diet type AND telomere attrition OR telomere length. En total, se incluyeron 19 estudios transversales, cinco estudios de casos y controles, cinco estudios de cohortes prospectivos y dos estudios de intervención, incluyendo aquellos artículos que se encontraron por listas de referencias de otras publicaciones. Resultados: se encontraron asociaciones positivas entre la longitud de los telómeros y la adherencia a la dieta mediterránea y el consumo de verduras y frutas. Los resultados obtenidos para otros nutrientes, alimentos o patrones dietéticos fueron incoherentes, aunque parece que las carnes procesadas, los cereales, el alcohol y las bebidas endulzadas podrían estar asociados con telómeros más cortos. Conclusiones: la intervención dietética, y en particular la promoción de una dieta de estilo mediterráneo, podría desempeñar un papel en la protección de la integridad telomérica. Key words:Telomere. Mediterranean diet. Oxidative stress. DNA. AbstractBackground: Few studies have evaluated the relationship between diet quality and telomere integrity in humans. Telomeres are regions of non-coding DNA localized at the end of each chromosome whose length, in addition to indicating life expectancy, indicates an overall health status. The objective of this systematic review is to compile the existing evidence on the relationship between telomere length and diet quality to further explore the impact that some nutrients, foods and dietary patterns may have on telomere homeostasis and therefore, in precision nutrition strategies. Material and methods: A bibliographic review was performed in the PubMed database to identify published articles (in English or Spanish) until December 201...

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“…Can we use senescence markers to distinguish high-risk patients from otherwise 'healthy aged' individuals? Although an inverse relationship between telomere length within leukocytes and risk of coronary heart disease has recently been settled in a large meta-analysis, 11 telomere length of total leukocytes is not an ideal biomarker for cardiovascular outcome due to the significant variation in telomere length among healthy individuals, both at birth and over the life course.…”

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confidence: 99%

Senescent cytotoxic T cells in acute myocardial infarction: innocent bystanders or the horsemen of apocalypse?

Hoffmann

Spyridopoulos

2014

Cell Mol Immunol

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Leucocyte telomere length and risk of cardiovascular disease: systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract: Objective To assess the association between leucocyte telomere length and risk of cardiovascular disease.Design Systematic review and meta-analysis.

Cited by 700 publications

References 47 publications

Lifespan adversity and later adulthood telomere length in the nationally representative US Health and Retirement Study

Lifespan adversity and later adulthood telomere length in the nationally representative US Health and Retirement Study

Telómeros Y Calidad De La Dieta: Una Revision Sistematica

Senescent cytotoxic T cells in acute myocardial infarction: innocent bystanders or the horsemen of apocalypse?

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