Oxidative stress, telomere length and biomarkers of physical aging in a cohort aged 79 years from the 1932 Scottish Mental Survey

John M Starr, Paul G Shiels, Sarah E Harris, Alison Pattie, Mark S Pearce, Caroline L Relton, Ian J Deary

Research output: Contribution to journalArticle (Academic Journal)peer-review

83 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Telomere shortening is a biomarker of cellular senescence and is associated with a wide range of age-related disease. Oxidative stress is also associated with physiological aging and several age-related diseases. Non-human studies suggest that variants in oxidative stress genes may contribute to both telomere shortening and biological aging. We sought to test whether oxidative stress-related gene polymorphisms contribute to variance in both telomere length and physical biomarkers of aging in humans. Telomere lengths were calculated for 190 (82 men, 108 women) participants aged 79 years and associations with 384 SNPs, from 141 oxidative stress genes, identified 9 significant SNPS, of which those from 5 genes (GSTZ1, MSRA, NDUFA3, NDUFA8, VIM) had robust associations with physical aging biomarkers, respiratory function or grip strength. Replication of associations in a sample of 318 (120 males, 198 females) participants aged 50 years confirmed significant associations for two of the five SNPs (MSRA rs4841322, p=0.008; NDUFA8 rs6822, p=0.048) on telomere length. These data indicate that oxidative stress genes may be involved in pathways that lead to both telomere shortening and physiological aging in humans. Oxidative stress may explain, at least in part, associations between telomere shortening and physiological aging.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)745-51
Number of pages7
JournalMechanisms of Ageing and Development
Volume129
Issue number12
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Dec 2008

Keywords

  • Aged
  • Aging
  • Cohort Studies
  • Female
  • Hand Strength
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Oxidative Stress
  • Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide
  • Respiratory Physiological Phenomena
  • Scotland
  • Telomere

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Oxidative stress, telomere length and biomarkers of physical aging in a cohort aged 79 years from the 1932 Scottish Mental Survey'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this