Human telomere biology: pitfalls of moving from the laboratory to epidemiology
Abstract
Remarkable progress has been made during the last 2 decades in understanding telomere biology at the molecular and cellular levels. Clinical epidemiology research of human telomeres, in contrast, is a discipline just coming into its own. The most important observation in studying human telomere biology is that telomere length is highly variable among humans. Here we explain some of the reasons for this variability and propose several principles that should be considered in conducting epidemiological telomere research. Ignoring these principles could lead to misleading conclusions.
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Important caveats in interpreting LTL include distinguishing between telomere shortening in the individual leukocyte and apparent telomere shortening when examining average LTL due to redistribution of leukocyte cell types having different telomere lengths.
“Important caveats must be considered in interpreting LTL (Aviv et al., 2006; Epel, 2012), e.g., (a) distinguishing between telomere shortening in the individual leukocyte vs. “apparent” telomere shortening when examining average LTL, due to a re-distribution of leukocyte cell types having different telomere lengths, such as naïve vs. memory T cells;”
From Psychiatric disorders and leukocyte telomere length: Underlying mechanisms linking mental illness with cellular aging (2015) · cites this paper as Aviv et al., 2006
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- Authors
- Aviv, A., Valdes, A. M., & Spector, T. D.
- Affiliations
- Rutgers New Jersey Medical School (US)
- Corresponding author
- Aviv, Abraham
- Venue
- International Journal of Epidemiology
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press (OUP)
- Published
- 2006-09-22
- Volume
- 35
- Issue
- 6
- Pages
- 1424-1429
- ISSN
- 0300-5771 (ISSN-L)
- 1464-3685
- OpenAlex
- W2171796500
- Cited by
- 172
- References
- 67
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 1 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 3 · 2021: 7 · 2020: 7 · 2019: 9 · 2018: 9 · 2017: 12 · 2016: 4 · 2015: 14 · 2014: 13 · 2013: 17 · 2012: 14
- FWCI
- 1.28
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- International Journal of Epidemiology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Rutgers University Community Repository (Rutgers University) (submittedVersion)
- Research Portal (King's College London) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Wellcome Trust (074951)
- National Institute on Aging (R01AG021593, AG021593, AG-020132, R01AG020132)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Telomeres, Telomerase, and Senescence
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Genetic Associations and Epidemiology
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Aging › Genetics, Aging, and Longevity in Model Organisms
- Keywords
- telomere length, telomere biology, interindividual variability, clinical epidemiology, research design principles
- MeSH terms
- Aged, Aging, Humans, Leukocytes, Longitudinal Studies, Epidemiologic Research Design, Bias, Telomere, Molecular Epidemiology, Sample Size
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