title: Chromosomal telomere shortening of kidney cells in IgA nephropathy by the measurement of DNA in urinary sediment.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The histology and function of the kidney deteriorates with age and progressive renal failure, but the mechanisms involved in renal ageing are not known. In vitro studies suggest that telomere shortening is important in replicative senescence, and is accelerated by stress factors that increase replication. We investigated whether IgA nephropathy, a prototype chronic kidney disease, is associated with localized intrarenal cellular ageing.
  
  
  METHODS
  We studied the mean length of terminal restriction fragments (TRF), a measure of average telomere size, in the DNA of peripheral blood mononuclear cells and urinary sediment of 15 patients with IgA nephropathy.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean TRF lengths in peripheral blood is 7043.8 +/- 1 182.8 base pairs, and in urinary sediment is 6 749.7 +/- 636.5 base pairs. The mean TRF lengths of urinary DNA significantly correlate with the serum creatinine (r = -0.525, p = 0.044) and estimated glomerular filtration rate (GFR) (r = 0.651, p = 0.009). The mean TRF lengths of urinary DNA had an insignificant inverse correlation with patient age (r = -0.364, p = 0.2), and do not correlate with the degree of glomerulosclerosis (r = 0.004, p = 0.9) or tubulointerstitial scarring in renal biopsy (r =-0.032, p = 0.9). After 30 months of follow-up, the rate of decline of estimated GFR has an inverse correlation with the mean TRF lengths of urinary DNA (r = -0.699, p = 0.004). The TRF lengths of peripheral blood DNA do not correlate with any clinical or histological parameter or the rate of renal function decline.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Although this is a pilot study, our observation indicates that the TRF lengths of genomic DNA extracted from urinary sediment is related to the degree of renal impairment. However, a long telomere length of genomic DNA in urinary sediment is associated with a more rapid decline of renal function. Our findings might be relevant to the pathogenesis of progressive renal failure.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine and Therapeutics, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong, China. ccszeto@cuhk.edu.hk
authors.forename: C C
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Szeto
authors.forename: P Y K
authors.initials: PY
authors.lastname: Poon
authors.forename: F M M
authors.initials: FM
authors.lastname: Lai
authors.forename: K M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Chow
authors.forename: C Y K
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Szeto
authors.forename: P K T
authors.initials: PK
authors.lastname: Li
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D004247:DNA / Q000652:urine*; D005260:Female; D005922:Glomerulonephritis, IGA / Q000235:genetics* / Q000652:urine*; D006801:Humans; D007668:Kidney / Q000166:cytology*; D016615:Telomere / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D004247:DNA