title: Meta-analysis of telomere length in 19,713 subjects reveals high heritability, stronger maternal inheritance and a paternal age effect.
abstract: Telomere length (TL) has been associated with aging and mortality, but individual differences are also influenced by genetic factors, with previous studies reporting heritability estimates ranging from 34 to 82%. Here we investigate the heritability, mode of inheritance and the influence of parental age at birth on TL in six large, independent cohort studies with a total of 19,713 participants. The meta-analysis estimate of TL heritability was 0.70 (95% CI 0.64-0.76) and is based on a pattern of results that is highly similar for twins and other family members. We observed a stronger mother-offspring (r=0.42; P-value=3.60 × 10(-61)) than father-offspring correlation (r=0.33; P-value=7.01 × 10(-5)), and a significant positive association with paternal age at offspring birth (β=0.005; P-value=7.01 × 10(-5)). Interestingly, a significant and quite substantial correlation in TL between spouses (r=0.25; P-value=2.82 × 10(-30)) was seen, which appeared stronger in older spouse pairs (mean age ≥55 years; r=0.31; P-value=4.27 × 10(-23)) than in younger pairs (mean age<55 years; r=0.20; P-value=3.24 × 10(-10)). In summary, we find a high and very consistent heritability estimate for TL, evidence for a maternal inheritance component and a positive association with paternal age.
authors: 1] Department of Epidemiology, Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands [2] Netherlands Consortium for Healthy Aging, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands.
authors: Linda
authors: L
authors: Broer
authors: Veryan
authors: V
authors: Codd
authors: Dale R
authors: DR
authors: Nyholt
authors: Joris
authors: J
authors: Deelen
authors: Massimo
authors: M
authors: Mangino
authors: Gonneke
authors: G
authors: Willemsen
authors: Eva
authors: E
authors: Albrecht
authors: Najaf
authors: N
authors: Amin
authors: Marian
authors: M
authors: Beekman
authors: Eco J C
authors: EJ
authors: de Geus
authors: Anjali
authors: A
authors: Henders
authors: Christopher P
authors: CP
authors: Nelson
authors: Claire J
authors: CJ
authors: Steves
authors: Margie J
authors: MJ
authors: Wright
authors: Anton J M
authors: AJ
authors: de Craen
authors: Aaron
authors: A
authors: Isaacs
authors: Mary
authors: M
authors: Matthews
authors: Alireza
authors: A
authors: Moayyeri
authors: Grant W
authors: GW
authors: Montgomery
authors: Ben A
authors: BA
authors: Oostra
authors: Jacqueline M
authors: JM
authors: Vink
authors: Tim D
authors: TD
authors: Spector
authors: P Eline
authors: PE
authors: Slagboom
authors: Nicholas G
authors: NG
authors: Martin
authors: Nilesh J
authors: NJ
authors: Samani
authors: Cornelia M
authors: CM
authors: van Duijn
authors: Dorret I
authors: DI
authors: Boomsma
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D040582:Inheritance Patterns; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010331:Paternal Age; D010375:Pedigree; D016615:Telomere / Q000235:genetics*; D059506:Telomere Shortening / Q000235:genetics*; D014427:Twins / Q000235:genetics