Telomere length in vascular tissues from patients with atherosclerotic disease

Abstract

Arterial segments which did not develop atherosclerosis such as the saphenous vein and internal mammary artery, had longer telomere length than aortic segments. On the other hand, telomere length was shorter in aortic tissues which presented atherosclerotic lesions compared to corresponding tissues without atherosclerotic lesions. These results also suggest tissue regulation of telomere size by local factors likely related to oxidative stress responses.

Aging and Atherosclerosis

“…23 In addition, whereas telomere length mostly reflects previous replication, arterial segments resistant to atherosclerosis, such as internal mammary artery or ascending aorta, have longer telomeres than the aortic regions prone to the disease. 56,57 This difference is ageindependent, suggesting the existence of intrinsic genetic or developmental variations in telomere regulation may underlie location-specific predisposition in atherogenesis.…”

DNA Damage and Repair in Vascular Disease

“…However, some of these effects may be independent of telomeres, as telomeres continue to shorten in these cells, and cells replicate with critically short telomeres (2). In addition, although telomere length mostly reflects previous replication, arterial segments resistant to atherosclerosis, such as internal mammary arteries or ascending aorta, have longer telomeres than do the aortic regions prone to the disease (42,43). This difference is age independent, suggesting that intrinsic genetic or developmental variations in telomere regulation may underlie location-specific predisposition to atherogenesis.…”

Potential Risks in the Paradigm of Basic to Translational Research: A Critical Evaluation of qPCR Telomere Size Techniques

“…Another issue is that some hypotheses do not require sophisticated procedures to reach statistically significant see [98][99][100]. All investigators who work on telomere size estimates should first conduct pilot studies to measure the estimated size difference in control and experimental samples by Southern analysis.…”