Decreased Leukocyte Telomere Length (LTL) is Associated with Stroke but Unlikely to Be Causative

Overview

Journal PLoS One

Specialties General Medicine
Science

Date 2013 Jul 18

PMID 23861874

Citations 14

Authors

Xin Jiang

Ming Dong

Jinquan Cheng

Sichun Huang

Yitao He

Kefu Ma

Bingshan Tang

Yi Guo

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Aims: Interindividual variability in telomere length is highly heritable. Leukocyte telomere length (LTL) shortening has been shown to be associated with the process of atherosclerosis. But whether the inheritance of LTL is related to stroke is still unclear. The aim of this study was to test if telomere shortening was associated with stroke and whether this association was mainly due to inheritance or acquired cardiovascular risk factors.

Methods: Our study was focused on stroke in patients and their siblings. 450 subjects were recruited into this study: 150 patients with ischemic stroke as case group, 150 siblings of patients free of stroke (sibling group) and 150 healthy people as normal control. LTL was measured by real-time Polymerase Chain Reactions. The association between LTL and the cardiovascular risk factors was also determined.

Results: A significant decrease of LTL was found in case group when comparing with sibling (0.92±0.77 vs 1.68±1.24, p<0.001) and normal groups (0.92±0.77 vs 1.95±1.07, p<0.001), but no significant difference was found between sibling group and healthy control (p = 0.330). Shorter telomere length was independently associated with hypertension (p = 0.029, OR = 2.189, 95%CI:1.084-4.421), recent social pressure (p = 0.001, OR = 3.121, 95%CI:1.597-6.101), age (p = 0.004, OR = 1.055, 95%CI:1.017-1.093), HDL (p = 0.022, OR = 0.227, 95%CI:0.064-0.810) and diabetes (p = 0.018, OR = 3.174, 95%CI:1.221-8.252). Additionally, shortened length of telomere (p = 0.017, OR = 3.996, 95%CI:1.283-12.774) was an independent risk biomarker for stroke among case and sibling groups.

Conclusion: The present study has demonstrated that decreased LTL might be associated with ischemic stroke but unlikely to be causative.

Citing Articles

Telomeres and Age-Related Diseases.

Gruber H, Semeraro M, Renner W, Herrmann M Biomedicines. 2021; 9(10).

PMID: 34680452 PMC: 8533433. DOI: 10.3390/biomedicines9101335.

Association between telomere length in peripheral blood leukocytes and risk of ischemic stroke in a Han Chinese population: a linear and non-linear Mendelian randomization analysis.

Cao W, Zheng D, Zhang J, Wang A, Liu D, Zhang J J Transl Med. 2020; 18(1):385.

PMID: 33046137 PMC: 7552559. DOI: 10.1186/s12967-020-02551-1.

Telomere Length: A Potential Biomarker for the Risk and Prognosis of Stroke.

Tian Y, Wang S, Jiao F, Kong Q, Liu C, Wu Y Front Neurol. 2019; 10:624.

PMID: 31263449 PMC: 6585102. DOI: 10.3389/fneur.2019.00624.

Relative Telomere Length and Cardiovascular Risk Factors.

Koriath M, Muller C, Pfeiffer N, Nickels S, Beutel M, Schmidtmann I Biomolecules. 2019; 9(5).

PMID: 31108918 PMC: 6572569. DOI: 10.3390/biom9050192.

Relative Telomere Length and Stroke Risk in a Chinese Han Population.

Gao D, Zhang R, Ji G, Li C, Guo D, Jin T J Mol Neurosci. 2018; 66(4):475-481.

PMID: 30345460 DOI: 10.1007/s12031-018-1160-9.

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