Open AccessLeucocyte telomere length and paroxysmal atrial fibrillation: A prospective cohort study and systematic review with meta‐analysis
Author(s) -
Zhang Nixiao,
Fan Chong,
Gong Mengqi,
Liang Xue,
Zhang Weili,
Li Guangping,
Tse Gary,
Liu Tong
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
journal of clinical laboratory analysis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.536
H-Index - 50
eISSN - 1098-2825
pISSN - 0887-8013
DOI - 10.1002/jcla.22599
Subject(s) - telomere , meta analysis , atrial fibrillation , medicine , prospective cohort study , subgroup analysis , multivariate analysis , cohort , cohort study , cardiology , gastroenterology , oncology , gene , biology , genetics
Background Telomere length is a surrogate marker of biological aging. Whether telomere length predicts the risk of atrial fibrillation (AF) independently of biological aging is controversial. We conducted a cohort study to examine the relationship between telomere length and paroxysmal AF (PAF), followed by a systematic review and meta‐analysis of the published literature, incorporating our own data. Methods DNA was extracted from peripheral blood. Leucocyte telomere length was measured by a real‐time polymerase chain reaction‐based method, normalized to a single copy gene, and presented as telomere/single gene ratio (t/s). Results A total of 100 non‐AF patients and 50 PAF patients (mean age: 61.0 ± 9.4 and 64.0 ± 10.7 years, respectively) were included. T/s for subjects without AF tended to be shorter than for those with AF (0.21 [0.06‐0.36] vs 0.28 [0.11‐0.71], P = .077). T/s was associated with a 1.60‐fold increase in the risk of AF but this was not significant (95% CI: 0.988‐2.597, P = .056). Our meta‐analysis confirms no difference in telomere length between AF and non‐AF patients and t/s was not associated with higher risk of AF in multivariate analysis. Conclusions Our prospective data showed that leucocyte telomere length was similar between AF and non‐AF patients but was significantly longer in male patients with PAF than those without AF in our subgroup analysis. Our meta‐analysis found that t/s did not predict AF. These findings support the notion that chronological aging, but not markers of biological aging, predicts the risk of AF.