Abstract
Accelerated aging biomarkers in young, old, mild and severe COPD
Background: COPD has traditionally been associated with accelerated aging. However, it is unknown if the hallmarks of aging (i.e. telomere length(TL) and mitochondrial DNA(mtDNA)) are associated with COPD in young individuals.
Methods: We measured by qPCR the TL and the number of copies of mtDNA in whole blood of: 1) n=79 young COPD patients (<50 yrs.); 2) n=169 COPD patients (50-80 yrs.); and 3) n= 225 smoking and non-smoking controls. A multivariate linear regression adjusted by age, sex, pack-years and current smoking status, was used to determine the association of TL and mtDNA with FEV1%ref. and FEV1/FVC at the different age bins.
Results: As expected, in the whole population TL and mtDNA were associated with age. TL, but not mtDNA, showed a strong positive correlation with FEV1% (P=2.99e-08) and FEV1/FVC after adjusting by age, gender and smoking status (Fig1A). The association of TL and FEV1% was only maintained in patients with COPD but not in controls (Fig1B). When stratified by age-group, TL of both showed a significant correlation with FEV1/FVC (Fig1C). Finally, severe COPD patients of both age-groups showed a significant decrease in TL compared to mild COPD patients (Fig1D).
Conclusions: Shorter telomeres are associated with COPD and correlate with lung function parameters even in early adulthood. Severity of airflow limitation in COPD patients is associated with TL.
Footnotes
Cite this article as: European Respiratory Journal 2021; 58: Suppl. 65, PA2386.
This abstract was presented at the 2021 ERS International Congress, in session “Prediction of exacerbations in patients with COPD”.
This is an ERS International Congress abstract. No full-text version is available. Further material to accompany this abstract may be available at www.ers-education.org (ERS member access only).
- Copyright ©the authors 2021