title: Coronary artery disease and a functional polymorphism of hTERT.
abstract: Genetic variation, a -1327T/C polymorphism, of human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) is associated with leukocyte telomere length in healthy subjects, but clinical significances of this functional polymorphism are not clear. Recently, the relationship between the telomere system and coronary artery disease (CAD) was reported. We investigated the association between the -1327T/C polymorphism and (a) susceptibility to CAD and (b) telomere length in CAD patients. In a case-control study, 104 patients confirmed by coronary angiography and 115 age- and sex-matched controls were enrolled. There was a higher frequency of the -1327C/C genotype in CAD patients (51.9%) compared with controls (36.5%, p = 0.0218). Among the 104 CAD patients, leukocyte telomere length in the -1327C/C genotype (7.62+/-2.19 kb, mean+/-SD) was shorter than that in the -1327T/C and -1327T/T genotypes (8.74+/-2.92, p = 0.0287). These findings suggest that the -1327C/C genotype is a genetic risk factor for CAD and relates to shorter telomere length among CAD patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, School of Medicine, Keio University, Tokyo, Japan. yumikoma@sc.itc.keio.ac.jp
authors.forename: Yumiko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Matsubara
authors.forename: Mitsuru
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Murata
authors.forename: Kiyoaki
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Watanabe
authors.forename: Ikuo
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Saito
authors.forename: Koichi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Miyaki
authors.forename: Kazuyuki
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Omae
authors.forename: Mie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ishikawa
authors.forename: Kenichi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Matsushita
authors.forename: Shiro
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Iwanaga
authors.forename: Satoshi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ogawa
authors.forename: Yasuo
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ikeda
mesh_terms: D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003324:Coronary Artery Disease / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics*; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D012307:Risk Factors; D019098:Telomerase / Q000235:genetics*; D016615:Telomere / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D019098:Telomerase