title: Leukocyte telomere length: a focus on cerebrovascular events.
abstract: Telomeres are specialized DNA structures located at the ends of chromosomes. Their length is reduced at each cell cycle, especially when the cumulative burden of oxidative stress is high. The purpose of this study was to determine the associations between telomere length and clinical and biological risk factors in ischemic stroke patients. A total of 215 stroke patients hospitalized in the Dijon, France, stroke unit were prospectively and continuously included from January to September, 2004. The telomere length measured from peripheral blood leukocytes--leukocyte telomere length (LTL)--was determined by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction. The results were compared with clinical and biological variables of interest collected at admission to find significant associations. Possible relationships between LTL and stroke subtypes were evaluated. A multiple regression that included all the variables significantly associated (p<0.20) with LTL in univariate analysis and age and subtypes of stroke confirmed a significant association with age (p<0.001), homocysteinemia (p=0,049), and levels of both antiphospholipid antibodies (p=0.019) and triglycerides (p=0.007). Linearity was verified and confirmed for each variable. The subtype of stroke did not significantly affect telomere length. We were able to highlight significant associations between LTL and certain cerebrovascular risk factors in a general population of stroke patients. These associations did not depend on the ischemic stroke subtype.
authors.affiliation: Stroke Registry of Dijon (Inserm+Institut de Veille Sanitaire), University Hospital, Faculty of Medicine and Department of Neurology, Dijon, France. dbiotti@hotmail.com
authors.forename: Damien
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Biotti
authors.forename: Serge
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Aho
authors.forename: Yannick
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Béjot
authors.forename: Maurice
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Giroud
authors.forename: Marie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Caillier
authors.forename: Sylviane
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ragot
authors.forename: Guy-Victor
authors.initials: GV
authors.lastname: Osseby
authors.forename: Thibault
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Moreau
authors.forename: Jean-Raymond
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Teyssier
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D002561:Cerebrovascular Disorders / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology*; D003710:Demography; D005260:Female; D006710:Homocysteine / Q000097:blood; D006801:Humans; D007962:Leukocytes / Q000378:metabolism*; D008297:Male; D059505:Telomere Homeostasis; D014280:Triglycerides / Q000097:blood
chemical_list: D014280:Triglycerides; D006710:Homocysteine