background: epidemiological studies have probed the correlation between telomere length and the risk of lung cancer, but their findings are inconsistent in this regard.  the present meta-analysis study has been carried out to demonstrate the association between relative telomere length in peripheral blood leukocytes and the risk of lung cancer using an established q-pcr technique. methods: a sy...

BACKGROUND psychological stress and depressive symptoms have been implicated with accelerated ageing and increased progression of diseases. Shorter telomere length indicates a more advanced biological age. It is unknown whether psychological well-being is associated with telomere length in patients with the somatic condition of chronic heart failure (CHF). DESIGN a cross-sectional analysis wa...

OBJECTIVE To examine the relationships of race, sex, adiposity, adipokines, and physical activity to telomere length in adolescents. STUDY DESIGN Leukocyte telomere length (T/S ratio) was assessed cross-sectionally in 667 adolescents (aged 14-18 years; 48% African-Americans; 51% girls) using a quantitative polymerase chain reaction method. Generalized estimating equations analyses were perfor...

High environmental pressure may impair male fertility by affecting sperm quality, but the real effect remains controversial. Herein, we assessed the influence of environmental exposure on telomere length (TL) in both leukocytes (LTL) and sperm cells (STL). A pilot biomonitoring study was conducted in 112 clinically healthy, normospermic men living in various areas of Campania region (South of I...

BACKGROUND Psychological stress is suggested to accelerate the rate of biological aging. We investigated whether work-related exhaustion, an indicator of prolonged work stress, is associated with accelerated biological aging, as indicated by shorter leukocyte telomeres, that is, the DNA-protein complexes that cap chromosomal ends in cells. METHODS We used data from a representative sample of ...

Blood leukocytes derive from bone marrow hematopoietic stem cells and differentiate into multiple types of mature cells that include granulocytes, monocytes, mast cells of myeloid lineage, and T and B lymphocytes of lymphoid lineage. Their distinctive paths of differentiation and unique roles in immune response provide a model for comparative analysis of biological parameters, such as telomere ...

As the population ages, the occurrence of chronic pathologies becomes more common. Leukocyte telomere shortening associates to ageing and age-related diseases. Recent studies suggest that environmental chemicals can affect telomere length. Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) are most relevant, since they are ingested with foods, and accumulate in the body for a long time. This longitudinal stu...

BACKGROUND Telomere length is a predictor for a number of common age related diseases and is a heritable trait. METHODS AND RESULTS To identify new loci associated with mean leukocyte telomere length we conducted a genome wide association study of 314,075 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and validated the results in a second cohort (n for both cohorts combined = 2790). We identified two...

Objective—The mechanisms responsible for the age-related increase in the incidence of calcific aortic valve stenosis (CAS) are unclear but may include telomere-driven cellular senescence. Because telomere length varies widely among individuals of the same age, we hypothesized that patients with shorter telomeres would be prone to develop CAS late in life. Methods and Results—Mean telomere lengt...