Reduced Telomere Length in Neurodegenerative Disorders May Suggest Shared Biology.


Author: Kota LN1, Bharath S, Purushottam M, Moily NS, Sivakumar PT, Varghese M, Pal PK, Jain S.

Affiliation: 1From the Dept. of Psychiatry (LNK, SB, MP, NSM, PTS, MV, SJ) and the Dept. of Neurology (PKP), National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences, Bangalore, Karnataka, India.
Conference/Journal: J Neuropsychiatry Clin Neurosci. 
Date published: 2014 Dec 26
Other:
  Word Count: 111  
    

Early cell death is a feature of neurodegenerative disorders. Telomere shortening is related to premature cellular senescence and could be a marker for cellular pathology in neurological diseases. Relative telomere length in dementia (N=70), Huntington's disease (N=35), ataxia telangiectasia (N=9), and age-group matched control samples (N=105) was measured as relative telomere copy/single copy gene ratios. Individuals with Huntington's disease had the lowest relative telomere copy/single copy gene ratio (0.21), followed by ataxia telangiectasia (0.31) and dementia (0.48). The younger control group had the highest relative telomere copy/single copy gene ratio (1.07). The reduced telomere length could be indicative of shared biological pathways across these disorders contributing to cellular senescence.

PMID: 25541866



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