Leukocyte Telomere Length in Patients with Radiographic Knee Osteoarthritis

Abstract

Relative mean telomere sequence amount was determined by quantitative PCR (qPCR) of peripheral blood leukocyte (PBL) samples obtained at recruitment (n = 310) from individuals from the Osteoarthritis (OA) Initiative consortium. Knees were radiologically evaluated according to the Kellgren–Lawrence (KL) score, ranging from 0 to 4, considering a KL grade ≥ 2 as radiographic evidence of OA (n = 124). Telomere size decreased as baseline KL score increased, being significantly shorter in subjects with KL ≥2 (Mann–Whitney U‐test, P < 0.0001). PBL telomere size was also associated with age, hypertension, body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference. Nevertheless, logistic regression analysis showed that PBL telomere size was a consistent risk factor for concurrent knee OA, independent of these health parameters. Shorter PBL telomeres may indicate a premature aging status which enhances chondrocyte senescence and degenerative joint disease. Environ. Mol. Mutagen. 60:298–301, 2019. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Association of accelerated dynamics of telomere sequence loss in peripheral blood leukocytes with incident knee osteoarthritis in Osteoarthritis Initiative cohort

“…Although PBL telomere size may be associated with many parameters related to aging and health status, multivariable analysis using logistic regression analysis had evidenced PBL telomere size at recruitment as a risk factor significantly associated to the prevalence of knee OA at baseline 10 . Regarding hand OA, the association of PBL telomere amount at recruitment with prevalent hand OA lost significance in the model adjusted for age, sex and BMI, whereas the association was evidenced for incident hand OA 11 .…”

“…This retrospective cohort study study includes 281 Caucasian individuals (129 male and 152 female) with an age range of 45–78 years (mean 58.48). Subjects included in the study were those whose telomere had already been quantified at baseline and whose results were already published in previous studies 10 , 11 . A subset was eligible based on availability of both baseline and 72-month radiographs and baseline PBL telomere length data.…”

“…It has recently been demonstrated in individuals from the Osteoarthritis Initiative (OAI) consortium from USA that mean PBL telomere size at recruitment was an independent risk factor for concurrent knee OA, as well as radiological severity 10 . Furthermore, this baseline PBL telomere length was associated with incident hand OA 11 .…”

Sex‐specific differences in telomere length of patients with primary knee osteoarthritis

“…Both factors may contribute to the more severe TL loss we observed compared to men with primary OA.In a cohort of 80 patients with knee OA, Poonpet et al reported increased telomere shortening in leukocytes compared to 60 healthy controls 35. In 2019, Mosquera et al reported that TL in leukocytes is a risk factor for concurrent knee OA and has a negative correlation with age, BMI and waist circumference 36. Sibille et al found that patients affected by chronic pain and stress associated with knee OA have significantly shorter telomeres than patients without pain 37,38.…”

Pain characteristics and biomarkers in treatment approaches for osteoarthritis pain

“…However, clinical trials using subgroup analyses based on clinical features and/or biomarkers will still be needed to confirm the efficacy of specific drugs in patients with these characteristics [118]. Finally, work examining biomarkers for OA risk factors, such as biomarkers linking obesity and OA [119,120] or markers that might elucidate connections between OA and aging [121] or knee injury [122,123], could support clinical guidance for the treatment of OA in specific patient subgroups.…”