title: Circulating leukocyte telomere length is highly heritable among families of Arab descent.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Telomere length, an indicator of ageing and longevity, has been correlated with several biomarkers of cardiometabolic disease in both Arab children and adults. It is not known, however, whether or not telomere length is a highly conserved inheritable trait in this homogeneous cohort, where age-related diseases are highly prevalent. As such, the aim of this study was to address the inheritability of telomere length in Saudi families and the impact of cardiometabolic disease biomarkers on telomere length.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 119 randomly selected Saudi families (123 adults and 131 children) were included in this cross-sectional study. Anthropometrics were obtained and fasting blood samples were taken for routine analyses of fasting glucose and lipid profile. Leukocyte telomere length was determined using quantitative real time PCR.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Telomere length was highly heritable as assessed by a parent-offspring regression [h2 = 0.64 (p = 0.0006)]. Telomere length was modestly associated with BMI (R(2) 0.07; p-value 0.0087), total cholesterol (R(2) 0.08; p-value 0.0033), and LDL-cholesterol (R(2) 0.15; p-value 3 x 10(-5)) after adjustments for gender, age and age within generation.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The high heritability of telomere length in Arab families, and the associations of telomere length with various cardiometabolic parameters suggest heritable genetic fetal and/or epigenetic influences on the early predisposition of Arab children to age-related diseases and accelerated ageing.
authors.affiliation: Biomarkers Research Program, Biochemistry Department, College of Science, King Saud University, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. omrattas@ksu.edu.sa
authors.forename: Omar S
authors.initials: OS
authors.lastname: Al-Attas
authors.forename: Nasser M
authors.initials: NM
authors.lastname: Al-Daghri
authors.forename: Majed S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Alokail
authors.forename: Khalid M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Alkharfy
authors.forename: Assim A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Alfadda
authors.forename: Philip
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: McTernan
authors.forename: Greg C
authors.initials: GC
authors.lastname: Gibson
authors.forename: Shaun B
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Sabico
authors.forename: George P
authors.initials: GP
authors.lastname: Chrousos
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D018912:Arabs / Q000235:genetics*; D001786:Blood Glucose / Q000235:genetics; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007962:Leukocytes; D008055:Lipids / Q000097:blood; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012529:Saudi Arabia / Q000453:epidemiology; D016615:Telomere / Q000235:genetics*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D001786:Blood Glucose; D008055:Lipids