title: Telomerase activity and telomere length of peripheral blood mononuclear cells in SLE patients.
abstract: We evaluated the clinical significance of the telomerase activity and telomere length of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). PBMC were isolated from 55 patients with SLE and the telomerase activity was measured by TRAP assay. The telomere length of PBMC was also measured in 30 of these subjects. As a control group, 45 healthy adults with no particular clinical history were studied. The results were compared with clinical data. In patients with active SLE, the telomerase activity of PBMC was significantly increased compared with the control group. In patients with inactive SLE, the PBMC telomerase activity was not different compared with the controls in their 20s, 30s and 40s, but it was significantly increased compared with the controls in their 50s. In SLE patients, the telomerase activity of PBMC was significantly correlated with modified SLEDAI. The telomere length of PBMC in younger SLE patients tended to be shorter than that in the controls, but no difference was observed in older patients. The correlation coefficient between the telomerase activity and telomere length of PBMC in SLE patients was not significant. Abnormalities in the telomerase activity and telomere length observed in SLE patients are considered to be important findings for evaluation of the pathology of SLE.
authors.affiliation: Division of Rheumatology, Department of Internal Medicine, Jikei University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan. d_kurosaka@jikei.ac.jp
authors.forename: Daitaro
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Kurosaka
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yasuda
authors.forename: Ken
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yoshida
authors.forename: Toru
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yokoyama
authors.forename: Yoshinori
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ozawa
authors.forename: Yutaka
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Obayashi
authors.forename: Isamu
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Kingetsu
authors.forename: Saburo
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Saito
authors.forename: Akio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Yamada
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000893:Anti-Inflammatory Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006454:Hemoglobins / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D007963:Leukocytes, Mononuclear / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism*; D008180:Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic / Q000097:blood* / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000201:enzymology / Q000209:etiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011239:Prednisolone / Q000008:administration & dosage; D012075:Remission, Spontaneous; D018434:Sickness Impact Profile; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D019098:Telomerase / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism*; D016615:Telomere / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism*; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D000893:Anti-Inflammatory Agents; D015415:Biomarkers; D006454:Hemoglobins; D011239:Prednisolone; D019098:Telomerase