Circulating leukocyte telomere length is highly heritable among families of Arab descent

BMC Medical Genetics

George P Chrousos⁶  Shaun B Sabico⁴  Greg C Gibson¹  Philip McTernan⁵  Assim A Alfadda²  Khalid M Alkharfy³  Majed S Alokail⁴  Nasser M Al-Daghri⁴  Omar S Al-Attas⁴ 

[1] Center for Integrative Genomics, School of Biology, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, USA;Obesity Research Center, College of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia;Clinical Pharmacy Department, College of Pharmacy, King Saud University, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia;Prince Mutaib Chair for Biomarkers of Osteoporosis, Biochemistry Department, King Saud University, PO Box 2455, Riyadh, 11451, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia;Division of Metabolic & Vascular Health, Warwick Medical School, University of Warwick, CSRL, UHCW, Coventry, CV2 2DX, UK;Division of Endocrinology, Metabolism & Diabetes, University of Athens Medical School, Children's Hospital Aghia Sophia, Athens, Greece

关键词: Ageing;    Arabs;    Heritability;    Telomere length;   

Others  :  1177857
DOI  :  10.1186/1471-2350-13-38

 received in 2012-01-04, accepted in 2012-05-07,  发布年份 2012

【 摘 要 】

Background

Telomere length, an indicator of ageing and longevity, has been correlated with several biomarkers of cardiometabolic disease in both Arab children and adults. It is not known, however, whether or not telomere length is a highly conserved inheritable trait in this homogeneous cohort, where age-related diseases are highly prevalent. As such, the aim of this study was to address the inheritability of telomere length in Saudi families and the impact of cardiometabolic disease biomarkers on telomere length.

Methods

A total of 119 randomly selected Saudi families (123 adults and 131 children) were included in this cross-sectional study. Anthropometrics were obtained and fasting blood samples were taken for routine analyses of fasting glucose and lipid profile. Leukocyte telomere length was determined using quantitative real time PCR.

Results

Telomere length was highly heritable as assessed by a parent-offspring regression [h2 = 0.64 (p = 0.0006)]. Telomere length was modestly associated with BMI (R² 0.07; p-value 0.0087), total cholesterol (R² 0.08; p-value 0.0033), and LDL-cholesterol (R² 0.15; p-value 3 x 10^-5) after adjustments for gender, age and age within generation.

Conclusion

The high heritability of telomere length in Arab families, and the associations of telomere length with various cardiometabolic parameters suggest heritable genetic fetal and/or epigenetic influences on the early predisposition of Arab children to age-related diseases and accelerated ageing.

【 授权许可】

   
2012 Al-Attas et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.

【 参考文献 】

• [1]Al-Daghri NM, Al-Attas OS, Alokail MS, Alkharfy KM, Sabico SLS, Chrousos GP: Diabetes Mellitus Type 2 and other Chronic Non-Communicable Diseases in the Central Region, Saudi Arabia (Riyadh Cohort 2): a Decade of an Epidemic. BMC Medicine 2011, 9:76. BioMed Central Full Text
• [2]Al-Nozha MM, Al-Hazzaa HM, Arafah MR, Al-Khadra A, Al-Mazrou YY, Al-Maatouq MA, Khan NB, Al-Marzouki K, AL-Harthi SS, Abdullah M, Al-Shahid MS: Prevalence of physical activity and inactivity among Saudis aged 30–70 years. A population-based cross-sectional study. Saudi Med J 2007, 28:559-568.
• [3]Al-Rethaiaa AS, Fahmy AE, Al-Shwaiyat NM: Obesity and eating habits among college students in Saudi Arabia: a cross-sectional study. Nutr J 2010, 9:39. BioMed Central Full Text
• [4]Bawazeer NM, Al-Daghri NM, Valsamakis G, Al-Rubeaan KSA, Sabico SL, Kumar S, McTernan PG, Harte AL: Sleep duration and quality associated with obesity among Arab children. Obesity (Silver Spring) 2009, 17:2251-2253.
• [5]Al-Daghri NM, Al-Attas OS, Alokail MS, Alkharfy KM, Al-Yousef M, Nadhrah H, Sabico S, Chrousos G: Severe hypovitaminosis D is widespread in Saudi adults and is more common in non-diabetics than diabetics. Saudi Med J 2010, 31:775-780.
• [6]Al-Daghri NM, Al-Attas OS, Alokail MS, Alkharfy KM, Yousef M, Nadhrah HM, Al-Othman A, Al-Saleh Y, Sabico S, Chrousos GP: Hypovitaminosis D and cardiometabolic risk factors among non-obese youth. Cent Eur J Med 2010, 5:752-757.
• [7]Al-Daghri NM, Al-Attas OS, Alokail MS, Alkharfy KM, Sabico S, Chrousos GP: Decreasing Prevalence of the Full Metabolic Syndrome but a Persistently High Prevalence of Dyslipidemia among Adult Urban Saudis. PLoS One 2010, 5:e12159.
• [8]Al-Daghri NM: High prevalence of metabolic syndrome manifestations among Arab youth: a call for early intervention. Eur J Clin Invest 2010, 40:1063-1066.
• [9]Browner WS, Kahn AJ, Ziv E, Reiner AP, Oshima J, Cawthon RM, Hsueh WC, Cummings SR: The genetics of human longevity. Am J Med 2004, 117:851-860.
• [10]Mather KA, Jorm AF, Parslow RA, Christensen H: Is telomere length a biomarker of aging? A review. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci 2011, 66:202-213.
• [11]Lin J, Epel E, Blackburn E: Telomeres and lifestyle factors: roles in cellular aging. Mutat Res 2012, 730:85-89.
• [12]Wong LS, Huzen J, de Boer RA, van Gilst WH, van Veldhuisen DJ, van der Harts P: Telomere length of circulating leukocyte subpopulations and buccal cells in patients with ischemic heart failure and their offspring. PLoS One 2011, 6:e23118.
• [13]Njajou OT, Cawthon RM, Damcott CM, Wu SH, Ott S, Garant MJ, Blackburn EH, Mitchell BD, Shuldiner AR, Hsueh WC: Telomere length is paternally inherited and is associated with parental lifespan. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 2007, 104:12135-12139.
• [14]Al-Attas OS, Al-Daghri NM, Alokail MS, Al-Fadda A, Bamakhramah A, Sabico S, Pritlove D, Harte A, Tripathi G, McTernan PG, Kumar S, Chrousos G: Adiposity and insulin resistance correlate with telomere length in middle-aged Arabs: the influence of circulating adiponectin. Eur J Endocrinol 2010, 163:601-607.
• [15]Al-Attas O, Al-Daghri N, Bamakhramah A, Sabico S, Huang T, McTernan P: Telomere length in relation to insulin resistance, inflammation and obesity among Arab youth. Acta Paediatr 2010, 99:896-899.
• [16]Al-Daghri NM, Al-Attas OS, Alokail MS, Alkharfy KM, Yakout SM, Sabico S, Gibson G, Chrousos GP, Kumar S: Parent-Offspring Transmission of Adipocytokine Levels and Their Associations with Metabolic Traits. PLoS One 2011, 6:e18182.
• [17]Cole TJ, Bellizzi MC, Flegal KM, Dietz WH: Establishing a standard definition for child overweight and obesity worldwide: international survey. BMJ 2000, 320:1240-1246.
• [18]Cawthon RM: Telomere measurement by quantitative PCR. Nucleic Acids Res 2002, 30:e47.
• [19]Bischoff C, Graakjaer J, Petersen HC, Hjelmborg JB, Vaupel JW, Bohr V, Koelvraa S, Christensen K: The heritability of telomere length among the elderly and the oldest-old. Twin Res Hum Genet 2005, 8:433-439.
• [20]Nordfjall K, Larefalk A, Lindgren P, Holmberg D, Roos G: Telomere length and heredity: Indications of paternal inheritance. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2005, 102:16374-16378.
• [21]Kazubowska L: Telomere shortening and ageing of the immune system. J Physiol Pharmacol 2008, 59:169-186.
• [22]Epel ES: Psychological and metabolic stress: a recipe for accelerated aging? Hormones (Athens) 2009, 8:7-22.