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(Hypertension. 2009;53:590.)
© 2009 American Heart Association, Inc.

Editorial Commentaries

Leukocyte Telomere Length, Hypertension, and Atherosclerosis

Are There Potential Mechanistic Explanations?

Abraham Aviv

From the Center of Human Development and Aging, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, New Jersey Medical School, Newark, NJ.

Correspondence to Abraham Aviv, Room F-464, MSB, New Jersey Medical School, 185 South Orange Ave, Newark, NJ 07103. E-mail avivab@umdnj.edu

An extract of the first 250 words of the full text is provided, because this article has no abstract.

In this issue of Hypertension, Yang et al¹ report that leukocyte telomere length (LTL) is shorter in hypertensive patients than in their normotensive peers. What’s more, after 5 years of follow-up, the authors observed that hypertensive patients with short LTL were more likely to develop atherosclerotic coronary artery disease, whereas normotensive persons with short LTL were more likely to become hypertensive.

Several features of this study merit attention. First, the study was conducted in a Chinese cohort, whereas the information we have about the relationships between LTL and cardiovascular risks is primarily derived from white populations. Second, the size of the cohort (388 hypertensive and 379 normotensive persons) and the meticulous attention devoted to characterizing hypertension lend credibility to the findings. Third, the 5-year follow-up period provided the opportunity to explore the potential cardiovascular ramifications of having a short LTL. Thus, the findings of this work indicate that the association between LTL and risks for coronary artery atherosclerosis apply not only to white but also to Chinese populations.

What is the biological meaning of the associations between LTL and aging-related diseases, principally atherosclerosis and its risk factors? The short answer is: we do not know. What we do know is that LTL is highly variable at birth and throughout life.² We also know that age-dependent LTL shortening is much faster in early life than during adulthood,³ probably because of the rapid proliferation of hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) during growth and development. In fact, LTL shortening throughout life largely mirrors . . . [Full Text of this Article]

Related Article:

Short Telomeres and Prognosis of Hypertension in a Chinese Population

Zhiwei Yang, Xin Huang, Hong Jiang, Yanrong Zhang, Hongxia Liu, Chuan Qin, Gilbert M. Eisner, Pedro Jose, Lenhard Rudolph, and Zhenyu Ju
Hypertension 2009 53: 639-645. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

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