Measurement and initial characterization of leukocyte telomere length in 474,074 participants in UK Biobank
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Authors
Denniff, M
Swinfield, C
Warner, SC
Sheth, S
Nanus, DE
Musicha, C
Bountziouka, V
Wang, Q
Bramley, R
Kaptoge, S
Stoma, S
Jiang, T
Wood, AM
Di Angelantonio, E
Danesh, JN
Nelson, CP
Publication Date
2022-02-01Journal Title
Nature Aging
ISSN
2662-8465
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Type
Article
This Version
AM
Metadata
Show full item recordCitation
Codd, V., Denniff, M., Swinfield, C., Warner, S., Papakonstantinou, M., Sheth, S., Nanus, D., et al. (2022). Measurement and initial characterization of leukocyte telomere length in 474,074 participants in UK Biobank. Nature Aging https://doi.org/10.1038/s43587-021-00166-9
Abstract
Leukocyte telomere length (LTL) is a proposed marker of biological age. Here we report the measurement and initial characterization of LTL in 474,074 participants in UK Biobank. We confirm that older age and male sex associate with shorter LTL, with women on average ~7 years younger in “biological age” than men. Compared to white Europeans, LTL is markedly longer in African and Chinese ancestries. Older paternal
age at birth is associated with longer individual LTL. Higher white cell count is associated with shorter LTL, but proportions of white cell subtypes show weaker associations. Age, ethnicity, sex and white cell count explain ~5.5% of LTL variance.
Using paired samples from 1,351 participants taken ~5 years apart, we estimate the within-individual variability in LTL and provide a correction factor for this. This resource provides opportunities to investigate determinants and biomedical consequences of variation in LTL.
Sponsorship
Medical Research Council (MR/L003120/1)
British Heart Foundation (None)
British Heart Foundation (CH/12/2/29428)
Medical Research Council (MR/M012816/1)
British Heart Foundation (RG/18/13/33946)
National Institute for Health Research (IS-BRC-1215-20014)
Identifiers
External DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s43587-021-00166-9
This record's URL: https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/332822
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