RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Telomere length in circulating leukocytes is associated with lung function and disease
JF European Respiratory Journal
JO Eur Respir J
FD European Respiratory Society
SP P4727
VO 42
IS Suppl 57
A1 Holger Schulz
A1 Elina Sillanpää
A1 Stefan Karrasch
A1 Alexessander Couto Alves
A1 Veryan Codd
A1 Iiris Hovatta
A1 Jessica L. Buxton
A1 Christopher P. Nelson
A1 Linda Broer
A1 Sara Hägg
A1 Massimo Mangino
A1 Gonneke Willemsen
A1 Kirsi H. Pietiläinen
A1 Manuel A.R. Ferreira
A1 Najaf Amin
A1 Ben A. Oostra
A1 Heli M. Bäckmand
A1 Markku Peltonen
A1 Seppo Sarna
A1 Taina Rantanen
A1 Sarianna Sipila
A1 Tellervo Korhonen
A1 Pamela A.F. Madden
A1 Christian Gieger
A1 Rudolf A. Jörres
A1 Joachim Heinrich
A1 Jürgen Behr
A1 Rudolf M. Huber
A1 Annette Peters
A1 Konstantin Strauch
A1 H.-Erich Wichmann
A1 Melanie Waldenberger
A1 Alexandra I.F. Blakemore
A1 Eco J.C. de Geus
A1 Nyholt Nyholt
A1 Anjali K. Henders
A1 Päivi L. Piirilä
A1 Ida Surakka
A1 Aila Rissanen
A1 Patrik K.E. Magnusson
A1 Ana Viñuela
A1 Nicholas G. Martin
A1 Nancy L. Pedersen
A1 Dorret I. Boomsma
A1 Tim D. Spector
A1 Cornelia M. van Duijn
A1 Jaakko Kaprio
A1 Nilesh J. Samani
A1 Marjo-Riitta Jarvelin
A1 Eva Albrecht
YR 2013
UL http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/42/Suppl_57/P4727.abstract
AB Rationale: Telomere length is recognized as a marker of biological age. Previous studies reported decreased telomere length in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), suggesting premature aging due to environmental exposure and/or chronic inflammation. Since the lungs are continuously exposed to environmental hazards, lung function per se may be a surrogate marker for biological age in light of the large inter-individual variability observed.Objectives: We investigated the association of telomere length with respiratory disease (COPD and asthma), and spirometric indices: forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1), forced vital capacity (FVC) and FEV1/FVC.Methods: Our meta-analysis of 14 studies included 1,189 COPD cases with 16,115 controls, 2,834 asthma cases with 28,195 controls and spirometric parameters of 13,100 individuals. Associations were tested by linear regression, adjusting for age, sex, and smoking status.Measurements and Main Results: We observed negative associations between telomere length and COPD (β=-0.0676, p=0.018) as well as asthma (β=-0.0452, p=0.024) with stronger effects in women compared to men. The investigation of spirometric indices showed positive associations between telomere length and FEV1 (p=1.62x10-7), FVC (p=2.38x10-4), and their ratio FEV1/FVC (p=6.13x10-3). The associations were weaker in apparently healthy subjects compared to COPD or asthma patients.Conclusions: Our results indicate that lung function may reflect biological aging primarily due to intrinsic processes which are likely to be aggravated in lung diseases. Shortened telomeres in lung disease suggest that aging processes are involved in the pathogenesis of COPD and asthma.