RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Telomere Length and Coronary Atherosclerosis in Rheumatoid Arthritis
JF The Journal of Rheumatology
JO J Rheumatol
FD The Journal of Rheumatology
SP 1469
OP 1474
DO 10.3899/jrheum.151115
VO 43
IS 8
A1 Michelle J. Ormseth
A1 Joseph F. Solus
A1 Annette M. Oeser
A1 Aihua Bian
A1 Tebeb Gebretsadik
A1 Ayumi Shintani
A1 Paolo Raggi
A1 C. Michael Stein
YR 2016
UL http://www.jrheum.org/content/43/8/1469.abstract
AB Objective. Telomeres protect against chromosomal end damage and shorten with each cell division; their length may be a marker of cardiovascular and overall biological aging. We examined the hypothesis that reduced telomere length is associated with increased coronary atherosclerosis in rheumatoid arthritis (RA).Methods. We performed a cross-sectional study in 145 patients with RA and 87 control subjects frequency-matched for age, race, and sex. Coronary artery calcium score was determined by noncontrast cardiac computed tomography. Telomere length was measured from whole blood DNA, using real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction and expressed as telomeric product to a single-copy gene product ratio (T/S ratio). Associations between telomere length, coronary artery calcium score, and 28-joint Disease Activity Score (DAS28) were assessed with Spearman correlation, proportional odds logistic regression, and linear regression, adjusting for age, race, and sex.Results. Telomere length was significantly inversely correlated with age in patients with RA (ρ = −0.37, p < 0.001) and control subjects (ρ = −0.39, p = 0.001). Among patients with RA, for every interquartile range (IQR) decrease in telomere length (T/S ratio), the odds of higher coronary artery calcium score increased by 38% (95% CI: 4–60) after adjusting for age, race, and sex (p adjusted = 0.03). Telomere length was not associated with DAS28 (p adjusted = 0.17). Telomere length was not significantly different in patients with RA [median (IQR): 1.02 units (0.9–1.11)] compared to control subjects [1.05 units (0.95–1.17); p = 0.10].Conclusion. Telomere length is inversely associated with coronary artery calcium score, independent of age, race, and sex in patients with RA.