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Telomere length in circulating leukocytes is associated with lung function and disease.
Eur. Respir. J. 43, 983-992 (2014)
Several clinical studies suggest the involvement of premature aging processes in COPD. Using an epidemiological approach we studied whether accelerated aging indicated by telomere length, a marker of biological age, is associated with COPD and asthma, and whether intrinsic age-related processes contribute to the inter-individual variability of lung function.Our meta-analysis of 14 studies included 934 COPD cases with 15,846 controls defined according to GLI criteria (or 1,189 COPD cases according to GOLD), 2,834 asthma cases with 28,195 controls, and spirometric parameters (FEV1, FVC and FEV1/FVC) of 12,595 individuals. Associations with telomere length were tested by linear regression, adjusting for age, sex, and smoking status.We observed negative associations between telomere length and asthma (β= -0.0452, p=0.024) as well as COPD (β= -0.0982, p=0.001), with associations being stronger and more significant when using GLI in comparison to GOLD. In both diseases, effects were stronger in females compared to males. The investigation of spirometric indices showed positive associations between telomere length and FEV1 (p=1.07×10(-7)), FVC (p=2.07×10(-5)), and their ratio FEV1/FVC (p=5.27×10(-3)). The effect was somewhat weaker in apparently healthy subjects compared to COPD or asthma patients.Our results provide indirect evidence for the hypothesis that cellular senescence may contribute to the pathogenesis of COPD and asthma and that lung function may reflect biological aging primarily due to intrinsic processes which are likely to be aggravated in lung diseases.
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Publication type
Article: Journal article
Document type
Scientific Article
Keywords
Obstructive Pulmonary-disease; Cell Senescence; Emphysema Show; Fibroblasts; Risk; Life; Hypertension; Spirometry; Smoking; Dietary
ISSN (print) / ISBN
0903-1936
e-ISSN
1399-3003
Journal
European Respiratory Journal
Quellenangaben
Volume: 43,
Issue: 4,
Pages: 983-992
Publisher
European Respiratory Society
Publishing Place
Sheffield
Non-patent literature
Publications
Reviewing status
Peer reviewed