Nixiao Zhang1, Chong Fan1, Mengqi Gong1, Xue Liang1, Weili Zhang2, Guangping Li1, Gary Tse3,4, Tong Liu1. 1. Tianjin Key Laboratory of Ionic-Molecular Function of Cardiovascular Disease, Department of Cardiology, Tianjin Institute of Cardiology, Second Hospital of Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin, China. 2. State Key Laboratory of Cardiovascular Diseases, Fuwai Hospital, National Center for Cardiovascular Diseases, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China. 3. Department of Medicine and Therapeutics, Faculty of Medicine, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, SAR, China. 4. Li Ka Shing Institute of Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, SAR, China.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Telomere length is a surrogate marker of biological aging. Whether telomere length predicts the risk of atrial fibrillation (AF) independently of biological aging is controversial. We conducted a cohort study to examine the relationship between telomere length and paroxysmal AF (PAF), followed by a systematic review and meta-analysis of the published literature, incorporating our own data. METHODS: DNA was extracted from peripheral blood. Leucocyte telomere length was measured by a real-time polymerase chain reaction-based method, normalized to a single copy gene, and presented as telomere/single gene ratio (t/s). RESULTS: A total of 100 non-AF patients and 50 PAF patients (mean age: 61.0 ± 9.4 and 64.0 ± 10.7 years, respectively) were included. T/s for subjects without AF tended to be shorter than for those with AF (0.21 [0.06-0.36] vs 0.28 [0.11-0.71], P = .077). T/s was associated with a 1.60-fold increase in the risk of AF but this was not significant (95% CI: 0.988-2.597, P = .056). Our meta-analysis confirms no difference in telomere length between AF and non-AF patients and t/s was not associated with higher risk of AF in multivariate analysis. CONCLUSIONS: Our prospective data showed that leucocyte telomere length was similar between AF and non-AF patients but was significantly longer in male patients with PAF than those without AF in our subgroup analysis. Our meta-analysis found that t/s did not predict AF. These findings support the notion that chronological aging, but not markers of biological aging, predicts the risk of AF.
BACKGROUND: Telomere length is a surrogate marker of biological aging. Whether telomere length predicts the risk of atrial fibrillation (AF) independently of biological aging is controversial. We conducted a cohort study to examine the relationship between telomere length and paroxysmal AF (PAF), followed by a systematic review and meta-analysis of the published literature, incorporating our own data. METHODS: DNA was extracted from peripheral blood. Leucocyte telomere length was measured by a real-time polymerase chain reaction-based method, normalized to a single copy gene, and presented as telomere/single gene ratio (t/s). RESULTS: A total of 100 non-AFpatients and 50 PAF patients (mean age: 61.0 ± 9.4 and 64.0 ± 10.7 years, respectively) were included. T/s for subjects without AF tended to be shorter than for those with AF (0.21 [0.06-0.36] vs 0.28 [0.11-0.71], P = .077). T/s was associated with a 1.60-fold increase in the risk of AF but this was not significant (95% CI: 0.988-2.597, P = .056). Our meta-analysis confirms no difference in telomere length between AF and non-AFpatients and t/s was not associated with higher risk of AF in multivariate analysis. CONCLUSIONS: Our prospective data showed that leucocyte telomere length was similar between AF and non-AFpatients but was significantly longer in male patients with PAF than those without AF in our subgroup analysis. Our meta-analysis found that t/s did not predict AF. These findings support the notion that chronological aging, but not markers of biological aging, predicts the risk of AF.
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 Journal: Circ Arrhythm Electrophysiol Date: 2014-11-08
Authors: Pim van der Harst; Liza S M Wong; Rudolf A de Boer; Scott W Brouilette; Gerrit van der Steege; Adriaan A Voors; Alistair S Hall; Nilesh J Samani; John Wikstrand; Wiek H van Gilst; Dirk J van Veldhuisen Journal: Am J Cardiol Date: 2008-05-28 Impact factor: 2.778
Authors: Laila Staerk; Biqi Wang; Kathryn L Lunetta; Robert H Helm; Darae Ko; Jason A Sherer; Patrick T Ellinor; Steven A Lubitz; David D McManus; Ramachandran S Vasan; Emelia J Benjamin; Ludovic Trinquart Journal: J Am Heart Assoc Date: 2017-11-14 Impact factor: 5.501
Authors: Joylene E Siland; Bastiaan Geelhoed; Isabelle C van Gelder; Pim van der Harst; Michiel Rienstra Journal: PLoS One Date: 2017-02-03 Impact factor: 3.240
Authors: Mengqi Gong; Angel Cheung; Qun-Shan Wang; Guangping Li; Christos A Goudis; George Bazoukis; Gregory Y H Lip; Adrian Baranchuk; Panagiotis Korantzopoulos; Konstantinos P Letsas; Gary Tse; Tong Liu Journal: J Clin Lab Anal Date: 2020-01-09 Impact factor: 2.352
Authors: Aenne S von Falkenhausen; Rebecca Freudling; Melanie Waldenberger; Christian Gieger; Annette Peters; Martina Müller-Nurasyid; Stefan Kääb; Moritz F Sinner Journal: Aging (Albany NY) Date: 2022-07-05 Impact factor: 5.955