PURPOSE Both telomere length and mitochondrial function are accepted as reflective indices of aging. Recent studies have shown that telomere dysfunction may influence impaired mitochondrial biogenesis and function. However, there has been no study regarding the possible association between telomere and mitochondrial function in humans. Therefore, the purpose of the study was to identify any rel...

In culture, replicating human somatic cells display progressive telomere shortening. Ultimately, such cells either undergo apoptosis or enter a state of replicative senescence that is triggered by critically shortened telomeres. Accordingly, telomere length is an index of both the replicative history and the replicative potential of human somatic cells in culture (1). Most replicating human som...

IMPORTANCE Telomeres protect chromosome ends and are markers of cellular aging and replicative capacity. OBJECTIVE To evaluate the association between recipient and donor pretransplant leukocyte telomere length with outcomes after unrelated donor allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) for patients with severe aplastic anemia. DESIGN, PARTICIPANTS, AND SETTING The study included...

Importance: Cognitive skills are known to decline through the lifespan with large individual differences. The molecular mechanisms for this decline are incompletely understood. Although leukocyte telomere length provides an index of cellular age that predicts the incidence of age-related diseases, it is unclear whether there is an association between cognitive decline and leukocyte telomere len...

Telomere length shortens with cellular division, and leukocyte telomere length is used as a marker for systemic telomere length. The hippocampus hosts adult neurogenesis and is an important structure for episodic memory, and carriers of the apolipoprotein E ε4 allele exhibit higher hippocampal atrophy rates and differing telomere dynamics compared with non-carriers. The authors investigated whe...

CONTEXT Leukocyte telomere length is inversely correlated with age, insulin resistance, serum leptin, and smoking. OBJECTIVE We explored whether menopausal status modifies the relations between leukocyte telomere length and insulin resistance. In addition, we examined the effect of menopause on the relation between leukocyte telomere length and C-reactive protein (CRP), an index of inflammati...

BACKGROUND It has been hypothesized that genomic instability related to telomere dysfunction may contribute to carcinogenesis. There is some evidence from case-control studies suggesting that short leukocyte telomere length may be associated with an increased risk of renal cell carcinoma (RCC); however, this association has not been investigated prospectively. METHODS We conducted a nested ca...