Author: De Meyer T1, Nawrot T2, Bekaert S3, De Buyzere ML4, Rietzschel ER4, Andrés V5
Affiliation: <sup>1</sup>Department of Data Analysis and Mathematical Modelling, Ghent University, Belgium. Electronic address: Tim.DeMeyer@ugent.be.
<sup>2</sup>Centre for Environmental Sciences, Hasselt University, Hasselt, Belgium.
<sup>3</sup>Bimetra Clinical Research Center, Ghent University Hospital, Ghent, Belgium.
<sup>4</sup>Department of Cardiovascular Diseases, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium.
<sup>5</sup>Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Cardiovasculares Carlos III (CNIC), Madrid, Spain; CIBER de Enfermedades Cardiovasculares (CIBER-CV), Madrid, Spain.
Conference/Journal: J Am Coll Cardiol.
Date published: 2018 Aug 14
Other:
Volume ID: 72 , Issue ID: 7 , Pages: 805-813 , Special Notes: doi: 10.1016/j.jacc.2018.06.014. , Word Count: 159
Telomeres shorten with age, the major risk factor for atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (aCVD). The observation of shorter telomeres in aCVD patients thus suggested that critical telomere shortening may contribute to premature biological aging and aCVD. Therefore, telomere length often is suggested as a causal aCVD risk factor, a proposal supported by recent Mendelian randomization studies; however, epidemiological research has shown disappointingly low effect sizes. It therefore remains uncertain whether telomere shortening is a cause of aCVD or merely a consequence. The authors argue that elucidating the mechanistic foundation of these findings is essential for any possible translation of telomere biology to the clinic. Here, they critically evaluate evidence for causality in animal models and human studies, and review popular hypotheses and discuss their clinical implications. The authors identify 4 key questions that any successful mechanistic theory should address, and they discuss how atherosclerosis-associated local telomere attrition may provide the answers.
KEYWORDS: atherosclerosis; biological aging; epidemiology; telomerase
PMID: 30092957 DOI: 10.1016/j.jacc.2018.06.014