title: Telomere length and anaemia in old age: results from the Newcastle 85-plus Study and the Leiden 85-plus Study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  reduced telomere length in blood cells has been associated with increased risk of multiple age-related diseases and is widely regarded as a general biomarker of ageing. Therefore, it is important to know both the extent and limitations of this association. We investigated the relation between telomere length and anaemia in two independent cohorts, with the prior expectation of adding anaemia to the list of conditions for which telomere reduction is a risk factor.
  
  
  METHODS
  the present study is embedded in the Newcastle 85-plus Study and Leiden 85-plus Study, two population-based studies of inhabitants of Newcastle and North Tyneside, UK (n = 749) and Leiden, the Netherlands (n = 658) aged 85 and over. High-molecular-weight DNA was isolated from full fresh blood (Newcastle) and peripheral blood mononuclear cells samples (Leiden). Telomere length was measured as abundance of telomeric template versus a single gene by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction. Anaemia was defined according to World Health Organization criteria.
  
  
  RESULTS
  in both studies, no differences in median telomere length were observed between participants with anaemia and participants without anaemia (Newcastle: 2,846 bp (interquartile range (IQR) 2,433-3,630) versus 2,920 bp (IQR 2,425-3,570), P = 0.63; Leiden: 4,136 bp (IQR 3,879-4,428) versus 4,167 bp (IQR 3,893-4,501), P = 0.41). Telomere length also did not correlate with any other haematological parameter in both men and women.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  in contrast to other age-related diseases, telomere length is not associated with anaemia or any other haematological parameter in older individuals in the general population.
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health and Primary Care, Leiden University Medical Centre, The Netherlands. w.p.j.den_elzen@lumc.nl
authors.forename: Wendy P J
authors.initials: WP
authors.lastname: Den Elzen
authors.forename: Carmen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Martin-Ruiz
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: von Zglinicki
authors.forename: Rudi G J
authors.initials: RG
authors.lastname: Westendorp
authors.forename: Thomas B L
authors.initials: TB
authors.lastname: Kirkwood
authors.forename: Jacobijn
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gussekloo
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000097:blood / Q000235:genetics; D000740:Anemia / Q000097:blood / Q000235:genetics*; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004739:England; D005260:Female; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D006801:Humans; D016014:Linear Models; D008297:Male; D009426:Netherlands; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012307:Risk Factors; D016615:Telomere / Q000378:metabolism*