title: Telomere length in circulating leukocytes is associated with lung function and disease.
abstract: Several clinical studies suggest the involvement of premature ageing processes in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Using an epidemiological approach, we studied whether accelerated ageing indicated by telomere length, a marker of biological age, is associated with COPD and asthma, and whether intrinsic age-related processes contribute to the interindividual variability of lung function. Our meta-analysis of 14 studies included 934 COPD cases with 15 846 controls defined according to the Global Lungs Initiative (GLI) criteria (or 1189 COPD cases according to the Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) criteria), 2834 asthma cases with 28 195 controls, and spirometric parameters (forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1), forced vital capacity (FVC) and FEV1/FVC) of 12 595 individuals. Associations with telomere length were tested by linear regression, adjusting for age, sex and smoking status. We observed negative associations between telomere length and asthma (β= -0.0452, p=0.024) as well as COPD (β= -0.0982, p=0.001), with associations being stronger and more significant when using GLI criteria than those of GOLD. In both diseases, effects were stronger in females than males. The investigation of spirometric indices showed positive associations between telomere length and FEV1 (p=1.07×10(-7)), FVC (p=2.07×10(-5)), and FEV1/FVC (p=5.27×10(-3)). The effect was somewhat weaker in apparently healthy subjects than in COPD or asthma patients. Our results provide indirect evidence for the hypothesis that cellular senescence may contribute to the pathogenesis of COPD and asthma, and that lung function may reflect biological ageing primarily due to intrinsic processes, which are likely to be aggravated in lung diseases.
authors: For a list of the authors' affiliations see the Acknowledgements section.
authors: Eva
authors: E
authors: Albrecht
authors: Elina
authors: E
authors: Sillanpää
authors: Stefan
authors: S
authors: Karrasch
authors: Alexessander Couto
authors: AC
authors: Alves
authors: Veryan
authors: V
authors: Codd
authors: Iiris
authors: I
authors: Hovatta
authors: Jessica L
authors: JL
authors: Buxton
authors: Christopher P
authors: CP
authors: Nelson
authors: Linda
authors: L
authors: Broer
authors: Sara
authors: S
authors: Hägg
authors: Massimo
authors: M
authors: Mangino
authors: Gonneke
authors: G
authors: Willemsen
authors: Ida
authors: I
authors: Surakka
authors: Manuel A R
authors: MA
authors: Ferreira
authors: Najaf
authors: N
authors: Amin
authors: Ben A
authors: BA
authors: Oostra
authors: Heli M
authors: HM
authors: Bäckmand
authors: Markku
authors: M
authors: Peltonen
authors: Seppo
authors: S
authors: Sarna
authors: Taina
authors: T
authors: Rantanen
authors: Sarianna
authors: S
authors: Sipilä
authors: Tellervo
authors: T
authors: Korhonen
authors: Pamela A F
authors: PA
authors: Madden
authors: Christian
authors: C
authors: Gieger
authors: Rudolf A
authors: RA
authors: Jörres
authors: Joachim
authors: J
authors: Heinrich
authors: Jürgen
authors: J
authors: Behr
authors: Rudolf M
authors: RM
authors: Huber
authors: Annette
authors: A
authors: Peters
authors: Konstantin
authors: K
authors: Strauch
authors: H Erich
authors: HE
authors: Wichmann
authors: Melanie
authors: M
authors: Waldenberger
authors: Alexandra I F
authors: AI
authors: Blakemore
authors: Eco J C
authors: EJ
authors: de Geus
authors: Dale R
authors: DR
authors: Nyholt
authors: Anjali K
authors: AK
authors: Henders
authors: Päivi L
authors: PL
authors: Piirilä
authors: Aila
authors: A
authors: Rissanen
authors: Patrik K E
authors: PK
authors: Magnusson
authors: Ana
authors: A
authors: Viñuela
authors: Kirsi H
authors: KH
authors: Pietiläinen
authors: Nicholas G
authors: NG
authors: Martin
authors: Nancy L
authors: NL
authors: Pedersen
authors: Dorret I
authors: DI
authors: Boomsma
authors: Tim D
authors: TD
authors: Spector
authors: Cornelia M
authors: CM
authors: van Duijn
authors: Jaakko
authors: J
authors: Kaprio
authors: Nilesh J
authors: NJ
authors: Samani
authors: Marjo-Riitta
authors: MR
authors: Jarvelin
authors: Holger
authors: H
authors: Schulz
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001249:Asthma / Q000097:blood* / Q000235:genetics; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005060:Europe; D005260:Female; D005541:Forced Expiratory Volume; D006801:Humans; D007962:Leukocytes / Q000166:cytology*; D008171:Lung Diseases / Q000097:blood* / Q000235:genetics; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D029424:Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive / Q000097:blood* / Q000235:genetics; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012907:Smoking; D013147:Spirometry; D016615:Telomere / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D014797:Vital Capacity