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Telomere Length and Telomerase Activity; A Yin and Yang of Cell Senescence
12:08

Telomere Length and Telomerase Activity; A Yin and Yang of Cell Senescence

Published on: May 22, 2013

Telomere length dynamics do not predict subclinical atherosclerosis progression over a six-year period

Vicente Andrés1,2, Juan M Fernández-Alvira3, Beatriz Dorado3,4

  • 1Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Cardiovasculares (CNIC), Melchor Fernández Almagro 3, Madrid, 28029, Spain. vandres@cnic.es.

Geroscience
|May 27, 2026
PubMed

Insights

Changes in leukocyte telomere length (LTL) do not predict subclinical atherosclerosis (SA) progression in healthy middle-aged adults. This longitudinal study found no significant association between LTL dynamics and SA progression over six years.

Area of Science:

  • Cardiovascular Disease Research
  • Biomarker Discovery
  • Aging and Longevity Studies

Background:

  • Subclinical atherosclerosis (SA) progression is linked to mortality, necessitating reliable biomarkers.
  • Leukocyte telomere length (LTL) attrition is associated with cardiovascular disease, but its predictive value for SA progression is unclear.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate whether accelerated LTL attrition predicts SA progression over a 6-year period.
  • To evaluate LTL dynamics as a potential early biomarker for subclinical atherosclerosis progression in healthy middle-aged individuals.

Main Methods:

  • Longitudinal study of 1068 healthy middle-aged participants from the Progression of Early Subclinical Atherosclerosis (PESA) study.
  • Leukocyte telomere length (LTL) measured using high-throughput quantitative fluorescence in-situ hybridization at baseline and after 6 years.
  • Subclinical atherosclerosis (SA) assessed via 3D vascular ultrasound of carotid and femoral arteries; statistical analyses employed linear and logistic regression.

Main Results:

  • No significant association was found between changes in LTL and changes in plaque volume over 6 years.
  • LTL dynamics did not predict the odds of SA progression over the 6-year study period.
  • Analysis of short telomere load changes yielded similar null results.

Conclusions:

  • Leukocyte telomere length (LTL) dynamics demonstrate limited utility as an early predictive biomarker for subclinical atherosclerosis (SA) progression.
  • Further research may be needed to identify reliable and cost-effective biomarkers for monitoring SA progression.

Keywords:
PESA cohortProspective studySubclinical atherosclerosis progressionTelomere length dynamics

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