title: Racial and Socioeconomic Variation in Genetic Markers of Telomere Length: A Cross-Sectional Study of U.S. Older Adults.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Shorter telomere length (TL) has been associated with stress and adverse socioeconomic conditions, yet U.S. blacks have longer TL than whites. The role of genetic versus environmental factors in explaining TL by race and socioeconomic position (SEP) remains unclear.
  
  
  METHODS
  We used data from the U.S. Health and Retirement Study (N=11,934) to test the hypothesis that there are differences in TL-associated SNPs by race and SEP. We constructed a TL polygenic risk score (PRS) and examined its association with race/ethnicity, educational attainment, assets, gender, and age.
  
  
  RESULTS
  U.S. blacks were more likely to have a lower PRS for TL, as were older individuals and men. Racial differences in TL were statistically accounted for when controlling for population structure using genetic principal components. The GWAS-derived SNPs for TL, however, may not have consistent associations with TL across different racial/ethnic groups.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study showed that associations of race/ethnicity with TL differed when accounting for population stratification. The role of race/ethnicity for TL remains uncertain, however, as the genetic determinants of TL may differ by race/ethnicity. Future GWAS samples should include racially diverse participants to allow for better characterization of the determinants of TL in human populations.
authors: Stanford University, Department of Medicine, 1070 Arastradero Road, Palo Alto, CA 94304, USA. Electronic address: rhamad@stanford.edu.
authors: Rita
authors: R
authors: Hamad
authors: Stanford University, Biology Department, Herrin Labs 454, Stanford, CA 94305, USA.
authors: Shripad
authors: S
authors: Tuljapurkar
authors: Stanford University, Department of Medicine, 1070 Arastradero Road, Palo Alto, CA 94304, USA.
authors: David H
authors: DH
authors: Rehkopf
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000483:Alleles; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005006:Ethnicity / Q000235:genetics*; D005260:Female; D005787:Gene Frequency; D005819:Genetic Markers; D055106:Genome-Wide Association Study; D015577:Geriatric Assessment; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; D011159:Population Surveillance; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D059505:Telomere Homeostasis / Q000235:genetics*; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology
chemical_list: D005819:Genetic Markers
keywords: Polygenic risk score; Race; Single nucleotide polymorphism; Socioeconomic position; Telomere; Telomere length