Telomere Length and the Risk of Atrial Fibrillation: Insights into the Role of Biological Versus Chronological Aging

Overview

Journal Circ Arrhythm Electrophysiol

Specialty Cardiology & Vascular Diseases

Date 2014 Nov 11

PMID 25381796

Citations 14

Authors

Jason D Roberts

Thomas A Dewland

James Longoria

Annette L Fitzpatrick

Elad Ziv

Donglei Hu

Jue Lin

David V Glidden

Bruce M Psaty

Esteban G Burchard

Elizabeth H Blackburn

Jeffrey E Olgin

Susan R Heckbert

Gregory M Marcus

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Background: Advanced age is the most important risk factor for atrial fibrillation (AF); however, the mechanism remains unknown. Telomeres, regions of DNA that shorten with cell division, are considered reliable markers of biological aging. We sought to examine the association between leukocyte telomere length (LTL) and incident AF in a large population-based cohort using direct LTL measurements and genetic data. To further explore our findings, we compared atrial cell telomere length and LTL in cardiac surgery patients.

Methods And Results: Mean LTL and the TERT rs2736100 single nucleotide polymorphism were assessed as predictors of incident AF in the Cardiovascular Health Study (CHS). Among the surgical patients, within subject comparison of atrial cell telomere length versus LTL was assessed. Among 1639 CHS participants, we observed no relationship between mean LTL and incident AF before and after adjustment for potential confounders (adjusted hazard ratio, 1.09; 95% confidence interval: 0.92-1.29; P=0.299); chronologic age remained strongly associated with AF in the same model. No association was observed between the TERT rs2736100 single nucleotide polymorphism and incident AF (adjusted hazard ratio: 0.95; 95% confidence interval: 0.88-1.04; P=0.265). In 35 cardiac surgery patients (26 with AF), atrial cell telomere length was longer than LTL (1.19 ± 0.20 versus 1.02 ± 0.25 [T/S ratio], P<0.001), a finding that remained consistent within the AF subgroup.

Conclusions: Our study revealed no evidence of an association between LTL and incident AF and no evidence of relative atrial cell telomere shortening in AF. Chronological aging independent of biological markers of aging is the primary risk factor for AF.

Citing Articles

Aging-associated atrial fibrillation: A comprehensive review focusing on the potential mechanisms.

Wang M, Hou C, Jia F, Zhong C, Xue C, Li J Aging Cell. 2024; 23(10):e14309.

PMID: 39135295 PMC: 11464128. DOI: 10.1111/acel.14309.

DNA Methylation and Telomeres-Their Impact on the Occurrence of Atrial Fibrillation during Cardiac Aging.

Grzeczka A, Graczyk S, Kordowitzki P Int J Mol Sci. 2023; 24(21).

PMID: 37958686 PMC: 10650750. DOI: 10.3390/ijms242115699.

Causal relationship between atrial fibrillation and leukocyte telomere length: A two sample, bidirectional Mendelian randomization study.

Sha Z, Hou T, Zhou T, Dai Y, Bao Y, Jin Q Front Cardiovasc Med. 2023; 10:1093255.

PMID: 36873417 PMC: 9975167. DOI: 10.3389/fcvm.2023.1093255.

Longer Leukocyte Telomere Length Increases the Risk of Atrial Fibrillation: A Mendelian Randomization Study.

Liu Y, Huang Y, Liu C, Liu Q Aging Dis. 2022; 13(5):1311-1313.

PMID: 36186140 PMC: 9466970. DOI: 10.14336/AD.2022.02251.

Atrial Fibrillation Underlies Cardiomyocyte Senescence and Contributes to Deleterious Atrial Remodeling during Disease Progression.

Adili A, Zhu X, Cao H, Tang X, Wang Y, Wang J Aging Dis. 2022; 13(1):298-312.

PMID: 35111375 PMC: 8782549. DOI: 10.14336/AD.2021.0619.

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