Cited by 590Telomeres, Telomerase, and SenescenceGenetic Associations and EpidemiologyAcute Myocardial Infarction Research

White Cell Telomere Length and Risk of Premature Myocardial Infarction

Brouilette, Scott, Singh, Ravi K., Thompson, John R., Goodall, Alison H., Samani, Nilesh J.·2003·Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology

Abstract

Objective— Biological age may be distinct from chronological age and contribute to the pathogenesis of age-related diseases. Mean telomeres lengths provide an assessment of biological age with shorter telomeres, indicating increased biological age. We investigated whether subjects with premature myocardial infarction (MI) had shorter leukocyte telomeres. Methods and Results— Mean terminal restriction fragment (TRF) length, a measure of average telomere size, was compared in leukocyte DNA of 203 cases with a premature MI (<50 years) and 180 controls. Age- and sex-adjusted mean TRF length of cases was significantly shorter than that of controls (difference 299.7±69.3 base pairs, P <0.0001) and on average equivalent to controls 11.3 years older. The difference in mean TRF length between cases and controls was not accounted for by other coronary risk factors. Compared with subjects in the highest quartile for telomere length, the risk of myocardial infarction was increased between 2.8- and 3.2-fold ( P <0.0001) in subjects with shorter than average telomeres. Conclusions— The findings support the concept that biological age may play a role in the etiology of coronary heart disease and have potentially important implications for our understanding of its genetic etiology, pathogenesis, and variable age of onset.

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Crossref · 10.1161/01.atv.0000067426.96344.32

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Authors
Brouilette, S., Singh, R. K., Thompson, J. R., Goodall, A. H., & Samani, N. J.
Affiliations
University of Leicester (GB)
Venue
Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology
Published
2003-05
Volume
23
Issue
5
Pages
842-846
ISSN
  • 1079-5642 (ISSN-L)
  • 1524-4636
OpenAlex
W2127657628
Cited by
590
References
27
Citations by year
2026: 5 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 16 · 2023: 15 · 2022: 19 · 2021: 27 · 2020: 26 · 2019: 21 · 2018: 31 · 2017: 26 · 2016: 25 · 2015: 24 · 2014: 37 · 2013: 32 · 2012: 33
FWCI
11.27
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
  • Arteriosclerosis Thrombosis and Vascular Biology (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Leicester Research Archive (University of Leicester) (submittedVersion)
Funders
Medical Research Council
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Telomeres, Telomerase, and Senescence
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Genetic Associations and Epidemiology
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Cardiology and Cardiovascular Medicine › Acute Myocardial Infarction Research
Keywords
leukocyte telomere length, premature myocardial infarction, biological age, terminal restriction fragments, coronary artery disease, coronary risk factors, age of onset, telomere shortening
MeSH terms
Adult, Aging, Coronary Disease, England, Female, Humans, Leukocytes, Male, Middle Aged, Myocardial Infarction, Retrospective Studies, Risk, Risk Factors, Telomere, Age of Onset

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