Longer telomere length in COPD patients with α1-antitrypsin deficiency independent of lung function.
Oxidative stress is involved in the pathogenesis of airway obstruction in α1-antitrypsin deficient patients. This may result in a shortening of telomere length, resulting in cellular senescence. To test whether telomere length differs in α1-antitrypsin deficient patients compared with controls, we measured telomere length in DNA from peripheral blood cells of 217 α1-antitrypsin deficient patients and 217 control COPD patients. We also tested for differences in telomere length between DNA from blood and DNA from lung tissue in a subset of 51 controls. We found that telomere length in the blood was significantly longer in α1-antitrypsin deficient COPD patients compared with control COPD patients (p = 1×10(-29)). Telomere length was not related to lung function in α1-antitrypsin deficient patients (p = 0.3122) or in COPD controls (p = 0.1430). Although mean telomere length was significantly shorter in the blood when compared with the lungs (p = 0.0078), telomere length was correlated between the two tissue types (p = 0.0122). Our results indicate that telomere length is better preserved in α1-antitrypsin deficient COPD patients than in non-deficient patients. In addition, measurement of telomere length in the blood may be a suitable surrogate for measurement in the lung.
UBC James Hogg Research Centre, St. Paul's Hospital, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
Aabida
A
Saferali
UBC James Hogg Research Centre, St. Paul's Hospital, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
Jee
J
Lee
UBC James Hogg Research Centre, St. Paul's Hospital, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
Don D
DD
Sin
Department of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, United States of America.
Farshid N
FN
Rouhani
Department of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, United States of America.
Mark L
ML
Brantly
UBC James Hogg Research Centre, St. Paul's Hospital, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
Andrew J
AJ
Sandford
D000328:Adult; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D005541:Forced Expiratory Volume; D006801:Humans; D008168:Lung / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009928:Organ Specificity; D029424:Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive / Q000235:genetics* / Q000503:physiopathology; D016615:Telomere / Q000235:genetics*; D059505:Telomere Homeostasis; D019896:alpha 1-Antitrypsin Deficiency / Q000235:genetics* / Q000503:physiopathology