Telomere length is paternally inherited and is associated with parental lifespan.
Telomere length (TL) is emerging as a biomarker for aging and survival. To evaluate factors influencing this trait, we measured TL in a large homogeneous population, estimated the heritability (h(2)), and tested for parental effects on TL variation. Our sample included 356 men and 551 women, aged 18-92 years, from large Amish families. Mean TL in leukocytes was measured by quantitative PCR (mean: 6,198 +/- 1,696 bp). The h(2) of TL was 0.44 +/- 0.06 (P < 0.001), after adjusting for age, sex, and TL assay batch. As expected, TL was negatively correlated with age (r = -0.40; P < 0.001). There was no significant difference in TL between men and women, consistent with our previous findings that Amish men lived as long as Amish women. There was a stronger and positive correlation and association between TL in the offspring and paternal TL (r = 0.46, P < 0.001; beta = 0.22, P = 0.006) than offspring and maternal TL (r = 0.18, P = 0.04; beta = -0.02, P = 0.4). Furthermore, we observed a positive correlation and association between daughter's TL and paternal lifespan (r = 0.20, P < 0.001; beta = 0.21, P = 0.04), but not between daughter's TL and maternal lifespan (r = -0.01, beta = 0.04; both P = not significant). Our data, which are based on one of the largest family studies of human TL, support a link between TL and aging and lifespan and suggest a strong genetic influence, possibly via an imprinting mechanism, on TL regulation.
Njajou
Omer T
OT
Department of Medicine and Institute of Human Genetics, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA.
Cawthon
Richard M
RM
Damcott
Coleen M
CM
Wu
Shih-Hsuan
SH
Ott
Sandy
S
Garant
Michael J
MJ
Blackburn
Elizabeth H
EH
Mitchell
Braxton D
BD
Shuldiner
Alan R
AR
Hsueh
Wen-Chi
WC
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D040582:Inheritance Patterns / Q000235:genetics*; D008136:Longevity / Q000235:genetics*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016615:Telomere / Q000378:metabolism*