Lower endothelial progenitor cell number, family history of cardiovascular disease and reduced HDL-cholesterol levels are associated with shorter leukocyte telomere length in healthy young adults
2013
Dei Cas, A. | Spigoni, V. | Franzini, L. | Preti, M. | Ardigò, D. | Derlindati, E. | Metra, M. | Monti, L.D. | Dell’Era, P. | Gnudi, L. | Zavaroni, I.
BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Leukocyte telomere length (LTL) is a novel marker of cardiovascular (CV) risk. The aim of the study was to investigate the major determinants of LTL in a healthy young population at very low CV risk. METHODS AND RESULTS: LTL was determined in 82 healthy subjects (49M/33F; age37 ± 9yrs), normotensive and not taking any medication with different family history of cardiovascular disease (CVD) (24yes/58no). Fasting blood samples were drawn in all subjects for the determination of lipid profile, high sensitive C-reactive protein, uric acid, Plasminogen Activator Inhibitor-1 (PAI-1), LTL and Endothelial Progenitor Cell (EPC) number. LTL was assessed with a specific real-time PCR reaction in leukocyte DNA samples. LTL resulted inversely correlated with family history of CVD (t = 2.70; p = 0.009), age (r = −0.238; p = 0.032), waist circumference (r = −0.256; p = 0.02), triglycerides (r = −0.218; p = 0.049), PAI-1 (r = −0.288; p = 0.009) and directly correlated with HDL-cholesterol (r = 0.316; p = 0.004) and EPC number (r = 0.358; p = 0.002). At a multivariate analysis, family history of CVD (p = 0.013), EPC count (p = 0.003), and HDL-cholesterol (p = 0.017) were independently associated with LTL (r = 0.62). CONCLUSION: LTL is independently associated to CV risk factors also in healthy young adults.
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