title: Differing patterns of peripheral blood leukocyte telomere length in rheumatologic diseases.
abstract: Telomeres progressively shorten with repeated somatic tissue cell division, their length being an indicator of cellular ageing. Telomeric dysfunction may be implicated in a variety of diseases. We measured mean telomere length in peripheral blood leukocytes (PBL) from patients with various rheumatologic diseases. Mean PBL telomere length was measured using real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (Q-PCR) assay in a control population (n=130; age range: 3-94 years) and in subjects diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis (RA; n=86; age range: 31-82 years), psoriatic arthritis (PA; n=56; age range: 26-79 years) and ankylosing spondylitis (AS; n=59; age range: 21-75 years). These diseases are associated with chronic systemic inflammatory activity. Telomere length was also quantified in subjects with osteoarthritis (OA; n=34; age range: 43-82 years) and osteoporosis (OP; n=35; age range: 59-95 years), diseases without a chronic systemic inflammatory component. Telomere length in OA showed no differences from age-matched controls (p=0.234), but was significantly shorter in OP (p=0.001). Telomere length was significantly longer than controls in RA (p=0.015), PA (p<0.001) and AS (p<0.001). Different patterns in telomere length from PBL are evidenced in rheumatologic pathologies, possibly dependent on the presence or absence of chronic systemic inflammation.
authors.affiliation: INIBIC-Complexo Hospitalario Universitario A Coruña, Genetics Unit, Coruña, Spain.
authors.forename: María
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tamayo
authors.forename: Alejandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mosquera
authors.forename: José Ignacio
authors.initials: JI
authors.lastname: Rego
authors.forename: José Luis
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Fernández-Sueiro
authors.forename: Francisco J
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: Blanco
authors.forename: José Luis
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Fernández
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology; D015535:Arthritis, Psoriatic / Q000097:blood / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000097:blood / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D006801:Humans; D007962:Leukocytes; D008875:Middle Aged; D010024:Osteoporosis / Q000097:blood / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D013167:Spondylitis, Ankylosing / Q000097:blood / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D016615:Telomere / Q000235:genetics*; D055815:Young Adult