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Multicenter Study
. 2009 Apr 1;179(7):566-71.
doi: 10.1164/rccm.200809-1398OC. Epub 2009 Jan 29.

Shortened telomeres in circulating leukocytes of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Laurent Savale  1 , Ari Chaouat, Sylvie Bastuji-Garin, Elisabeth Marcos, Laurent Boyer, Bernard Maitre, Mourad Sarni, Bruno Housset, Emmanuel Weitzenblum, Mireille Matrat, Philippe Le Corvoisier, Dominique Rideau, Jorge Boczkowski, Jean-Luc Dubois-Randé, Christos Chouaid, Serge Adnot
Affiliations
Free PMC article
Multicenter Study

Shortened telomeres in circulating leukocytes of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Laurent Savale et al. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. .
Free PMC article

Abstract

Rationale: Telomere length is considered a marker for biological aging. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) may be associated with premature aging.

Objectives: To test the hypothesis that patients with COPD experience accelerated telomere shortening and that inflammation is linked to this process.

Methods: We measured telomere length, using a quantitative polymerase chain reaction-based method, and plasma levels of various cytokines in 136 patients with COPD, 113 age- and sex-matched smokers, and 42 nonsmokers with normal lung function.

Measurements and main results: Median (range) telomere length ratio was significantly lower in patients with COPD (0.57 [0.23-1.18]) than in control smokers (0.79 [0.34-1.58]) or nonsmokers (0.85 [0.38-1.55]) (P < 0.001). The difference remained highly significant when using logistic regression analysis adjusted for age, sex, and tobacco exposure. Both females and males with COPD had shorter telomere length than same-sex control subjects. Telomere length was related to age in patients and control subjects but was shorter in patients than in control subjects in all age groups. No relationship was found between telomere length and tobacco exposure in patients or control subjects, with no difference between control smokers and nonsmokers. In patients with COPD, telomere length was related to PaO2 (P < 0.001) and PaCO2 (P < 0.001) but not to lung function parameters or the BODE Index. Patients with COPD also had elevated plasma levels of various cytokines, interleukin-6 correlating negatively with telomere length (P < 0.001).

Conclusions: Given that in vivo telomere length reflects cellular turnover and exposure to oxidative and inflammatory damage, our data support accelerated aging in COPD.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
telomere length in females and males among controls and patients with COPD. Comparisons were adjusted for age and pack-years. Values are median [interquartile range]. The bars represent the extreme values.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Telomere length in controls and patients with COPD in each 10-year age group. Comparisons were adjusted for sex and pack-years Values are median [interquartile range]. The bars represent the extreme values.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Correlations between telomere length, PaO2 (Rho = 0.27, p<0.002) and PaCO2 (Rho = −0.26, p<0.02) in patients with COPD.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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