title: Telomerase Gene (hTERT) and Survival: Results From Two Swedish Cohorts of Older Adults.
abstract: Telomere length has been associated with longevity. As telomere length is partly determined by the human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT), we investigated the association between an hTERT polymorphism located in its promoter region ((-) (1327)T/C) and longevity in two cohorts of older adults. Participants from the Kungsholmen project (KP; n = 1,205) and the Swedish National study of Aging and Care in Kungsholmen (SNAC-K; n = 2,764) were followed for an average period of 7.5 years. The main outcomes were hazard ratios (HR) of mortality and median age at death. In both cohorts, mortality was lower in female T/T carriers, aged 75+ years in KP (HR = 0.8, 95% CI: 0.5-0.9) and 78+ years in SNAC-K (HR = 0.6, 95% CI: 0.4-0.8) compared with female C/C carriers. T/T carriers died 1.8-3 years later than the C/C carriers. This effect was not present in men, neither in SNAC-K women aged 60-72 years. The association was not modified by presence of cancer, cardiovascular diseases, number of chronic diseases, or markers of inflammation, and did not interact with APOE genotype or estrogen replacement therapy. The gender-specific increased survival in T/T carriers can be due to a synergistic effect between genetic background and the life-long exposure to endogenous estrogen.
authors.affiliation: Aging Research Center, Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society (NVS), Karolinska Institutet and Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Grégoria
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Kalpouzos
authors.affiliation: Aging Research Center, Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society (NVS), Karolinska Institutet and Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Debora
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Rizzuto
authors.affiliation: Aging Research Center, Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society (NVS), Karolinska Institutet and Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden. Division of Neurogeriatrics, NVS, Karolinska Institutet, Center for Alzheimer Research at Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Lina
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Keller
authors.affiliation: Aging Research Center, Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society (NVS), Karolinska Institutet and Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Johan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Fastbom
authors.affiliation: Aging Research Center, Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society (NVS), Karolinska Institutet and Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Giola
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Santoni
authors.affiliation: Aging Research Center, Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society (NVS), Karolinska Institutet and Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Sara
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Angleman
authors.affiliation: Division of Neurogeriatrics, NVS, Karolinska Institutet, Center for Alzheimer Research at Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden. Department of Geriatric Medicine, Karolinska University Hospital Huddinge, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Caroline
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Graff
authors.affiliation: Aging Research Center, Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society (NVS), Karolinska Institutet and Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Lars
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Bäckman
authors.affiliation: Aging Research Center, Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society (NVS), Karolinska Institutet and Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden. Department of Geriatric Medicine, Karolinska University Hospital Huddinge, Stockholm, Sweden. Stockholm Gerontology Research Center, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Fratiglioni
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000235:genetics*; D005260:Female; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D008136:Longevity / Q000235:genetics*; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009026:Mortality / Q000639:trends*; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D016019:Survival Analysis; D013548:Sweden; D019098:Telomerase / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: C509186:TERT protein, human; D019098:Telomerase
keywords: Aging; Genetics; Longevity; Mortality; Telomerase