Department of Clinical Pathology, Bolzano Hospital, Lorenz-Boehler-Str. 5, 39100 Bolzano, Italy.
Clinical Institute of Medical and Chemical Laboratory Diagnostics, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria.
Clin Chem Lab Med. 2018 Jul 26;56(8):1210-1222. doi: 10.1515/cclm-2017-0870.
Telomeres are the protective end caps of chromosomes and shorten with every cell division. Telomere length has been proposed as a biomarker of biological age and a risk factor for age-related diseases. Epidemiologic studies show an association between leukocyte telomere length (LTL) and mortality. There is solid evidence that links LTL with cardiovascular disease. Short telomeres promote atherosclerosis and impair the repair of vascular lesions. Alzheimer's disease patients have also a reduced LTL. Telomeres measured in tumor tissue from breast, colon and prostate are shorter than in healthy tissue from the same organ and the same patient. In healthy tissue directly adjacent to these tumors, telomeres are also shorter than in cells that are more distant from the cancerous lesion. A reduced telomere length in cancer tissue from breast, colon and prostate is associated with an advanced disease state at diagnosis, faster disease progression and poorer survival. By contrast, results regarding LTL and cancer are inconsistent. Furthermore, the majority of studies did not find significant associations between LTL, bone mineral density (BMD) and osteoporosis. The present manuscript gives an overview about our current understanding of telomere biology and reviews existing knowledge regarding the relationship between telomere length and age-related diseases.
端粒是染色体的保护性末端帽，每次细胞分裂都会缩短。端粒长度已被提议作为生物年龄的生物标志物和与年龄相关的疾病的风险因素。流行病学研究表明白细胞端粒长度（LTL）与死亡率之间存在关联。有确凿的证据表明 LTL 与心血管疾病有关。短端粒会促进动脉粥样硬化，并损害血管损伤的修复。阿尔茨海默病患者的 LTL 也较低。来自乳腺、结肠和前列腺的肿瘤组织中的端粒比来自同一器官和同一患者的健康组织中的端粒短。在与这些肿瘤直接相邻的健康组织中，端粒也比远离癌变病变的细胞短。来自乳腺、结肠和前列腺的肿瘤组织中端粒长度的缩短与诊断时疾病状态的进展、疾病进展更快和生存状况更差有关。相比之下，关于 LTL 和癌症的结果并不一致。此外，大多数研究并未发现 LTL、骨密度（BMD）和骨质疏松症之间存在显著关联。本文概述了我们目前对端粒生物学的理解，并回顾了端粒长度与与年龄相关的疾病之间关系的现有知识。
