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The Association between Leucocyte Telomere Length and Survival Outcomes in Patients with Cardiovascular Disease

Jin-Yu Sun1,2, Qian Xu2, Hui Shen2

  • 1Department of Cardiology, Gusu School, Nanjing Medical University, 215008 Suzhou, Jiangsu, China.

Reviews in Cardiovascular Medicine
|October 2, 2024
PubMed

Insights

Shorter leucocyte telomere length (LTL) is linked to increased all-cause mortality in cardiovascular disease (CVD) patients, particularly women. This finding highlights LTL as a potential marker for CVD tertiary prevention.

Area of Science:

  • Biomedical research
  • Cardiovascular epidemiology
  • Gerontology

Background:

  • Investigating the relationship between leucocyte telomere length (LTL) and mortality risk in patients with cardiovascular disease (CVD).
  • Understanding the role of cellular aging markers in predicting adverse outcomes in CVD populations.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To explore the association between LTL and all-cause mortality.
  • To assess the impact of LTL on cardiovascular disease (CVD)-specific death.

Main Methods:

  • Utilized data from 1599 CVD patients from a US population survey.
  • Employed Kaplan-Meier curves, weighted Cox regression, and restricted cubic splines for all-cause mortality analysis.
  • Applied competing risk regression to evaluate CVD-specific mortality, with non-CVD death as a competing event.

Main Results:

  • Shorter LTL was associated with a higher risk of all-cause death (adjusted HR: 1.25).
  • A linear dose-response relationship was observed between LTL and all-cause mortality.
  • Female patients with shorter LTL showed a significantly higher risk of death (weighted HR: 1.79), unlike males.
  • No significant association was found between LTL and CVD-specific mortality, but a significant link to non-CVD death (adjusted HR: 1.24).

Conclusions:

  • Leucocyte telomere length (LTL) is inversely associated with all-cause mortality in female CVD patients.
  • Reduced LTL may serve as a prognostic indicator for increased all-cause mortality in CVD patients.
  • LTL emerges as a potential biomarker for tertiary prevention strategies in cardiovascular disease.
Abstract

Keywords:
Fine–Gray competing risk modelall-cause mortalitycardiovascular-specific deathtelomere length

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