Telomere length and cardiovascular risk factors in a middle‐aged population free of overt cardiovascular disease
Open accessAbstract
Summary: Evidence assembled over the last decade shows that average telomere length (TL) acts as a biomarker for biological aging and cardiovascular disease (CVD) in particular. Although essential for a more profound understanding of the underlying mechanisms, little reference information is available on TL. We therefore sought to provide baseline TL information and assess the association of prevalent CVD risk factors with TL in subjects free of overt CVD within a small age range. We measured mean telomere restriction fragment length of peripheral blood leukocytes in a large, representative Asklepios study cohort of 2509 community‐dwelling, Caucasian female and male volunteers aged approximately 35–55 years and free of overt CVD. We found a manifest age‐dependent telomere attrition, at a significantly faster rate in men as compared to women. No significant associations were established with classical CVD risk factors such as cholesterol status and blood pressure, yet shorter TL was associated with increased levels of several inflammation and oxidative stress markers. Importantly, shorter telomere length was associated with an increasingly unhealthy lifestyle, particularly in men. All findings were age and gender adjusted where appropriate. With these cross‐sectional results we show that TL of peripheral blood leukocytes primarily reflects the burden of increased oxidative stress and inflammation, whether or not determined by an increasingly unhealthy lifestyle, while the association with classical CVD risk factors is limited. This further clarifies the added value of TL as a biomarker for biological aging and might improve our understanding of how TL is associated with CVD.
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Because LTL is also affected by other risk factors for CAD such as oxidative stress, it has been unclear whether the association of shorter LTL with CAD is primary or secondary.
“Because LTL is also affected by other risk factors for CAD such as oxidative stress27–29, it has been unclear whether the association of shorter LTL with CAD is primary or secondary.”
From Identification of seven loci affecting mean telomere length and their association with disease (2013) · cites this paper as [29]
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- Authors
- Bekaert, S., De Meyer, T., Rietzschel, E. R., De Buyzere, M. L., De Bacquer, D., Langlois, M., Segers, P., Cooman, L., Van Damme, P., Cassiman, P., Van Criekinge, W., Verdonck, P., De Backer, G. G., Gillebert, T. C., Van Oostveldt, P., & on behalf of the Asklepios investigators
- Affiliations
- Ghent University (BE)
- AZ Sint-Jan (BE)
- Corresponding author
- Bekaert, Sofie
- Venue
- Aging Cell
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2007-06-18
- Volume
- 6
- Issue
- 5
- Pages
- 639-647
- ISSN
- 1474-9718 (ISSN-L)
- 1474-9726
- OpenAlex
- W2091735481
- Cited by
- 348
- References
- 37
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 8 · 2024: 10 · 2023: 10 · 2022: 19 · 2021: 22 · 2020: 23 · 2019: 20 · 2018: 21 · 2017: 21 · 2016: 19 · 2015: 21 · 2014: 19 · 2013: 22 · 2012: 23
- FWCI
- 14.25
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Aging Cell (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Ghent University Academic Bibliography (Ghent University) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Universitair Ziekenhuis Gent
- Universiteit Gent
- Vlaamse regering
- Bijzonder Onderzoeksfonds UGent
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Telomeres, Telomerase, and Senescence
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Cardiology and Cardiovascular Medicine › Cardiovascular Health and Disease Prevention
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Aging › Genetics, Aging, and Longevity in Model Organisms
- Keywords
- telomere length, telomere shortening, cardiovascular risk factors, biological aging, peripheral blood leukocytes, telomere restriction fragments, oxidative stress, inflammation, lifestyle, sex differences, middle-aged adults, cardiovascular biomarkers
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Aging, Blood Pressure, Cardiovascular Diseases, Cholesterol, Cross-Sectional Studies, Female, Humans, Life Style, Male, Middle Aged, Risk Factors, Sex Characteristics, Cohort Studies, Biomarkers, Telomere, Oxidative Stress, Inflammation Mediators
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