title: Telomeres and the natural lifespan limit in humans.
abstract: An ongoing debate in demography has focused on whether the human lifespan has a maximal natural limit. Taking a mechanistic perspective, and knowing that short telomeres are associated with diminished longevity, we examined whether telomere length dynamics during adult life could set a maximal natural lifespan limit. We define leukocyte telomere length of 5 kb as the 'telomeric brink', which denotes a high risk of imminent death. We show that a subset of adults may reach the telomeric brink within the current life expectancy and more so for a 100-year life expectancy. Thus, secular trends in life expectancy should confront a biological limit due to crossing the telomeric brink.
authors.affiliation: Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Biodemography, Institute of Public Health, University of Southern Denmark, Odense 5000, Denmark.
authors.forename: Troels
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Steenstrup
authors.affiliation: Epidemiology Unit, Hebrew University-Hadassah School of Public Health and Community Medicine, Jerusalem 91120, Israel.
authors.forename: Jeremy D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Kark
authors.affiliation: Groningen Institute for Evolutionary Life Sciences, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Simon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Verhulst
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Genetics, Odense University Hospital, Odense 5220, Denmark.|Danish Aging Research Center, University of Southern Denmark, Odense 5000, Denmark.
authors.forename: Mikael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Thinggaard
authors.affiliation: Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Biodemography, Institute of Public Health, University of Southern Denmark, Odense 5000, Denmark.|The Danish Twin Registry, University of Southern Denmark, Odense 5220, Denmark.
authors.forename: Jacob V B
authors.initials: JVB
authors.lastname: Hjelmborg
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, Environmental Medicine, University of Southern Denmark, 5000 Odense C, Denmark.
authors.forename: Christine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Dalgård
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Research, University of Southern Denmark and Odense Patient Data Explorative Network (OPEN), Odense University Hospital, Odense, Denmark.
authors.forename: Kirsten Ohm
authors.initials: KO
authors.lastname: Kyvik
authors.affiliation: Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Biodemography, Institute of Public Health, University of Southern Denmark, Odense 5000, Denmark.|Danish Aging Research Center, University of Southern Denmark, Odense 5000, Denmark.|The Danish Twin Registry, University of Southern Denmark, Odense 5220, Denmark.
authors.forename: Lene
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Christiansen
authors.affiliation: Department of Twin Research and Genetic Epidemiology, King's College London, London, UK.|NIHI Biomedical Research Center at Guy's and St Thomas Foundation Trust, London SE1 9RT, UK.
authors.forename: Massimo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mangino
authors.affiliation: Department of Twin Research and Genetic Epidemiology, King's College London, London, UK.
authors.forename: Timothy D
authors.initials: TD
authors.lastname: Spector
authors.affiliation: Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Biodemography, Institute of Public Health, University of Southern Denmark, Odense 5000, Denmark.
authors.forename: Inge
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Petersen
authors.affiliation: Center of Human Development and Aging, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, New Jersey Medical School, Newark, NJ 07103, USA.
authors.forename: Masayuki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kimura
authors.affiliation: Department of Geriatrics, University Hospital of Nancy, F54500, France.|INSERM, U1116, Vandoeuvre-les-Nancy, F54500, France.|Université de Lorraine, Nancy, F54000, France.
authors.forename: Athanase
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Benetos
authors.affiliation: INSERM, U1116, Vandoeuvre-les-Nancy, F54500, France.|Université de Lorraine, Nancy, F54000, France.
authors.forename: Carlos
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Labat
authors.affiliation: Epidemiology Unit, Hebrew University-Hadassah School of Public Health and Community Medicine, Jerusalem 91120, Israel.
authors.forename: Ronit
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sinnreich
authors.affiliation: Population Sciences Branch of the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, Bethesda, MD and the Framingham Heart Study, Framingham, MA 01702, USA.
authors.forename: Shih-Jen
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Hwang
authors.affiliation: Population Sciences Branch of the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, Bethesda, MD and the Framingham Heart Study, Framingham, MA 01702, USA.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Levy
authors.affiliation: Cardiovascular Genetics Division, Department of Medicine, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14850 USA.
authors.forename: Steven C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Hunt
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA.
authors.forename: Annette L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Fitzpatrick
authors.affiliation: Center for Cardiovascular Health, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA 07118, USA.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Center for Cardiovascular Health, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA 07118, USA.
authors.forename: Gerald S
authors.initials: GS
authors.lastname: Berenson
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical, Surgery, Neurologic, Metabolic and Aging Science, University of Campania "Luigi Vanvtelli" 80138 Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Michelangela
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Barbieri
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical, Surgery, Neurologic, Metabolic and Aging Science, University of Campania "Luigi Vanvtelli" 80138 Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Paolisso
authors.affiliation: Clinical Genetics Branch, Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD 20890, USA.
authors.forename: Shahinaz M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Gadalla
authors.affiliation: Clinical Genetics Branch, Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD 20890, USA.
authors.forename: Sharon A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Savage
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Genetics, Odense University Hospital, Odense 5220, Denmark.|Danish Aging Research Center, University of Southern Denmark, Odense 5000, Denmark.|The Danish Twin Registry, University of Southern Denmark, Odense 5220, Denmark.
authors.forename: Kaare
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Christensen
authors.affiliation: Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA.
authors.forename: Anatoliy I
authors.initials: AI
authors.lastname: Yashin
authors.affiliation: Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA.
authors.forename: Konstantin G
authors.initials: KG
authors.lastname: Arbeev
authors.affiliation: Center of Human Development and Aging, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, New Jersey Medical School, Newark, NJ 07103, USA.
authors.forename: Abraham
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Aviv
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology; D000465:Algorithms; D015139:Blotting, Southern; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007962:Leukocytes / Q000648:ultrastructure; D008017:Life Expectancy; D008136:Longevity / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008954:Models, Biological; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D016615:Telomere / Q000502:physiology* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D059506:Telomere Shortening
keywords: leukocytes; life-expectancy; longevity; maximal lifespan; sex