No association between telomere length and blood cell counts in elderly individuals.

Abstract

BACKGROUND:

Telomeres play a crucial role in maintaining the physical integrity of chromosomes. Telomere length (TL) is severely reduced in individuals with dyskeratosis congenita and a number of other bone marrow failure syndromes. The TL of healthy individuals is highly variable, but shortens with age. It is presently unclear if variations in TL observed in normal aging individuals affect significantly their hematopoietic reserve. Method We studied the correlation between leukocyte age-adjusted TL (aTL) and blood cell parameters (total leukocytes, neutrophils, monocytes, eosinophils, lymphocytes, hemoglobin, and platelets) in a large cohort (n=717) of women aged 38-100 years. Result We did not find any significant correlation between aTL and blood counts.

CONCLUSION:

Our data suggest that the aTL of aging individuals is not significantly predictive of their hematopoietic reserve, which implies that TL measurement may not be clinically useful in the selection of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation donors.

• Authors: Luigina Mollica, Isabelle Fleury, Claude Belisle, Sylvie Provost, Denis-Claude Roy, Lambert Busque
• Journal: The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences (J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci) Vol. 64 Issue 9 Pg. 965-7 (Sep 2009) ISSN: 1758-535X [Electronic] United States
• PMID: 19435952 (Publication Type: Journal Article)

Topics

• Adult
• Aged
• Aged, 80 and over
• Aging (blood, genetics)
• Blood Cell Count
• Female
• Humans
• Middle Aged
• Telomere