Association Between Leukocyte Telomere Length and the Risk of Incident Atrial Fibrillation: The Framingham Heart Study

Abstract

BackgroundAdvancing age is a prominent risk factor for atrial fibrillation (AF). Shorter telomere length is a biomarker of biological aging, but the link between shorter telomere length and increased risk of AF remains unclear. We examined the association between shorter leukocyte telomere length (LTL) and incident AF.Methods and ResultsWe included AF‐free participants from the observational Framingham Heart Study Offspring cohort from 1995 to 1998, who had LTL measurements. We examined the association between baseline LTL and incident AF with multivariable Cox models adjusted for age, sex, current smoking, height, weight, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, use of antihypertensive medication, diabetes mellitus, history of myocardial infarction, and history of heart failure. The study sample comprised 1143 AF‐free participants (52.8% women), with mean age of 60±8 years. The mean LTL at baseline was 6.95±0.57 kb. During 15.1±4.2 years mean follow‐up, 184 participants (64 women) developed AF. Chronological age was associated with increased risk of AF (hazard ratio per 10‐year increase, 2.16; 95% confidence interval, 1.71–2.72). There was no significant association between LTL and incident AF (hazard ratio per 1 SD decrease LTL, 1.01; 95% confidence interval, 0.86–1.19). Our study was observational in nature; hence, we could not exclude residual confounding and we were unable to establish causal pathways.ConclusionsIn our moderate‐sized community‐based cohort, we did not find evidence for a significant association between LTL and risk of incident AF.

Leukocyte telomere length is associated with elevated plasma glucose and HbA1c in young healthy men independent of birth weight

“…In the present study, we found a significant positive association between telomere length and systolic blood pressure in LBW subjects, which was however, not significant in the pooled data set. This is supported by a study in adult females were no association between telomere length and blood pressure was found 36 and further by a study were no association between telomere length and the risk of incident atrial fibrillation was observed 37 . Thus, more studies are needed to clarify the relationship between telomere length and cardiometabolic risk factors.…”

Leucocyte telomere length and paroxysmal atrial fibrillation: A prospective cohort study and systematic review with meta‐analysis

“…A flow diagram of the study identification and selection process is shown in Figure . A total of 22 entries were retrieved from the databases, of which 5 studies met our inclusion criteria . After including the data from this study, a total of 6 studies were included in the final meta‐analysis.…”

“…A total of 22 entries were retrieved from the databases, of which 5 studies met our inclusion criteria. 1,2,6,14,15 After including the data from this study, a total of 6 studies were included in the final meta-analysis. The details of the NOS quality assessment are shown in Table S1.…”

Shortened leukocyte telomere length as a potential biomarker for predicting the progression of atrial fibrillation from paroxysm to persistence in the short-term

“…Roberts et al, [ 15 ] Siland et al, [ 16 ] and Staerk et al [ 17 ] conducted longitudinal study designs rather than cross-sectional study focusing on the relationship between incidence of AF and LTLs. These 3 prospective studies came to similar conclusions, finding that aging and short LTL were independent risk factor for AF.…”