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Broer, L.* ; Codd, V.* ; Nyholt, D.R.* ; Deelen, J.* ; Mangino, M.* ; Willemsen, G.* ; Albrecht, E. ; Amin, N.* ; Beekman, M.* ; de Geus, E.J.* ; Henders, A.* ; Nelson, C.P.* ; Steves, C.J.* ; Wright, M.J.* ; de Craen, A.J.* ; Isaacs, A.* ; Matthews, M.* ; Moayyeri, A.* ; Montgomery, G.W.* ; Oostra, B.A.* ; Vink, J.M.* ; Spector, T.D.* ; Slagboom, P.E.* ; Martin, N.G.* ; Samani, N.J.* ; van Duijn, C.M.* ; Boomsma, D.I.*

Meta-analysis of telomere length in 19713 subjects reveals high heritability, stronger maternal inheritance and a paternal age effect.

Eur. J. Hum. Genet. 21, 1163-1168 (2013)
DOI PMC
Open Access Green as soon as Postprint is submitted to ZB.
Telomere length (TL) has been associated with aging and mortality, but individual differences are also influenced by genetic factors, with previous studies reporting heritability estimates ranging from 34 to 82%. Here we investigate the heritability, mode of inheritance and the influence of parental age at birth on TL in six large, independent cohort studies with a total of 19 713 participants. The meta-analysis estimate of TL heritability was 0.70 (95% CI 0.64-0.76) and is based on a pattern of results that is highly similar for twins and other family members. We observed a stronger mother-offspring (r=0.42; P-value=3.60 × 10(-61)) than father-offspring correlation (r=0.33; P-value=7.01 × 10(-5)), and a significant positive association with paternal age at offspring birth (β=0.005; P-value=7.01 × 10(-5)). Interestingly, a significant and quite substantial correlation in TL between spouses (r=0.25; P-value=2.82 × 10(-30)) was seen, which appeared stronger in older spouse pairs (mean age ≥55 years; r=0.31; P-value=4.27 × 10(-23)) than in younger pairs (mean age<55 years; r=0.20; P-value=3.24 × 10(-10)). In summary, we find a high and very consistent heritability estimate for TL, evidence for a maternal inheritance component and a positive association with paternal age.
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Publication type Article: Journal article
Document type Scientific Article
Corresponding Author
Keywords Telomere Length ; Heritability ; Paternal Age Effect; Netherlands Twin Register ; Genetic-variation ; Common Variants ; Oldest-old ; Population ; Association ; Humans ; Mortality ; Survival ; Biology
ISSN (print) / ISBN 1018-4813
e-ISSN 1476-5438
Journal European Journal of Human Genetics
Quellenangaben Volume: 21, Issue: 10, Pages: 1163-1168 Article Number: , Supplement: ,
Publisher Nature Publishing Group
Non-patent literature Publications
Reviewing status Peer reviewed
Institute(s) Institute of Genetic Epidemiology (IGE)