TY - JOUR
T1 - Telomere shortening in liver transplant recipients is not influenced by underlying disease or metabolic derangements
AU - Uziel, Orit
AU - Laish, Ido
AU - Bulcheniko, Marina
AU - Harif, Yael
AU - Kochavi-Shalem, Naama
AU - Aharoni, Maya
AU - Braunstein, Rony
AU - Lahav, Meir
AU - Ben-Ari, Ziv
PY - 2013
Y1 - 2013
N2 - Background: Telomeres are non-coding regions of DNA that cap the ends of chromosomes. Their length is considered a marker of human replicative senescence and premature aging. Given the high association of liver transplantation with the metabolic syndrome, we hypothesized that liver transplant recipients may exhibit premature and accelerated aging. Material/Methods: Telomere length in peripheral blood lymphocytes was measured by polymerase chain reaction in 62 consecutive liver-transplant recipients and 59 healthy control subjects aged 20-76 years. Clinical and laboratory parameters were collected from the medical files. Results: The liver transplant recipients were significantly older than the control subjects (p=0.012), with significantly higher rates of obesity (BMI >30 kg/m2), dyslipidemia, hypertension, diabetes, and fatty liver. Mean telomere length was significantly shorter in the transplant group (0.59±0.6 vs. 1.91±1.78 in the controls, p<0.0001). Within the transplant group, there was no significant association between mean telomere length and underlying liver disease or presence of the metabolic syndrome or its constituents. On multivariate analysis, telomere length was negatively associated with patient age (p=0.0001), male sex (p=0.04), acute rejection (p=0.005), and fatty liver (p=0.009), and was positively associated with time from transplantation (p=0.006). Conclusions: Liver transplantation is associated with shortened telomere length in peripheral blood lymphocytes, suggesting accelerated senescence.
AB - Background: Telomeres are non-coding regions of DNA that cap the ends of chromosomes. Their length is considered a marker of human replicative senescence and premature aging. Given the high association of liver transplantation with the metabolic syndrome, we hypothesized that liver transplant recipients may exhibit premature and accelerated aging. Material/Methods: Telomere length in peripheral blood lymphocytes was measured by polymerase chain reaction in 62 consecutive liver-transplant recipients and 59 healthy control subjects aged 20-76 years. Clinical and laboratory parameters were collected from the medical files. Results: The liver transplant recipients were significantly older than the control subjects (p=0.012), with significantly higher rates of obesity (BMI >30 kg/m2), dyslipidemia, hypertension, diabetes, and fatty liver. Mean telomere length was significantly shorter in the transplant group (0.59±0.6 vs. 1.91±1.78 in the controls, p<0.0001). Within the transplant group, there was no significant association between mean telomere length and underlying liver disease or presence of the metabolic syndrome or its constituents. On multivariate analysis, telomere length was negatively associated with patient age (p=0.0001), male sex (p=0.04), acute rejection (p=0.005), and fatty liver (p=0.009), and was positively associated with time from transplantation (p=0.006). Conclusions: Liver transplantation is associated with shortened telomere length in peripheral blood lymphocytes, suggesting accelerated senescence.
KW - Liver
KW - Telomeres
KW - Transplant
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84887256806&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.12659/AOT.889272
DO - 10.12659/AOT.889272
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AN - SCOPUS:84887256806
SN - 1425-9524
VL - 18
SP - 567
EP - 575
JO - Annals of Transplantation
JF - Annals of Transplantation
IS - 1
ER -