Telomere length is independently associated with all-cause mortality in chronic heart failure

Romaine, S. P. R. et al. (2022) Telomere length is independently associated with all-cause mortality in chronic heart failure. Heart, 108(2), pp. 124-129. (doi: 10.1136/heartjnl-2020-318654) (PMID:33789973)

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Abstract

Objective: Patients with heart failure have shorter mean leucocyte telomere length (LTL), a marker of biological age, compared with healthy subjects, but it is unclear whether this is of prognostic significance. We therefore sought to determine whether LTL is associated with outcomes in patients with heart failure. Methods: We measured LTL in patients with heart failure from the BIOSTAT-CHF Index (n=2260) and BIOSTAT-CHF Tayside (n=1413) cohorts. Cox proportional hazards analyses were performed individually in each cohort and the estimates combined using meta-analysis. Our co-primary endpoints were all-cause mortality and heart failure hospitalisation. Results: In age-adjusted and sex-adjusted analyses, shorter LTL was associated with higher all-cause mortality in both cohorts individually and when combined (meta-analysis HR (per SD decrease in LTL)=1.16 (95% CI 1.08 to 1.24); p=2.66×10−5), an effect equivalent to that of being four years older. The association remained significant after adjustment for the BIOSTAT-CHF clinical risk score to account for known prognostic factors (HR=1.12 (95% CI 1.05 to 1.20); p=1.04×10−3). Shorter LTL was associated with both cardiovascular (HR=1.09 (95% CI 1.00 to 1.19); p=0.047) and non-cardiovascular deaths (HR=1.18 (95% CI 1.05 to 1.32); p=4.80×10−3). There was no association between LTL and heart failure hospitalisation (HR=0.99 (95% CI 0.92 to 1.07); p=0.855). Conclusion: In patients with heart failure, shorter mean LTL is independently associated with all-cause mortality.

Item Type:Articles
Additional Information:BIOSTAT-CHF was funded by a grant from the European Commission (FP7-242209-BIOSTAT-CHF).
Keywords:Heart failure and cardiomyopathies, heart failure, genetics, biomarkers.
Status:Published
Refereed:Yes
Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID:Cleland, Professor John and Mordi, Dr Ify
Authors: Romaine, S. P. R., Denniff, M., Codd, V., Nath, M., Koekemoer, A., Anker, S. D., Cleland, J. G., Filippatos, G., Levin, D., Metra, M., Mordi, I. R., Ouwerkerk, W., ter Maaten, J. M., van Veldhuisen, D. J., Zannad, F., Ng, L. L., van der Harst, P., Lang, C. C., Voors, A. A., Nelson, C. P., and Samani, N. J.
College/School:College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Cardiovascular & Metabolic Health
College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Health & Wellbeing > Robertson Centre
Journal Name:Heart
Publisher:BMJ Publishing Group
ISSN:1355-6037
ISSN (Online):1468-201X
Published Online:31 March 2021
Copyright Holders:Copyright © 2021 The Authors
First Published:First published in Heart 108(2): 124-129
Publisher Policy:Reproduced in accordance with the publisher copyright policy

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