Evidence map›Paper›PMID 31444995›Full record

ArticleAging cell2019

Telomere length and aging-related outcomes in humans: A Mendelian randomization study in 261,000 older participants.

Chia-Ling Kuo, Luke C Pilling, George A Kuchel, Luigi Ferrucci, David Melzer

Open access · goldAbstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Aging cell, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 66 papers, 7 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
66citing papers in PubMed, 7 pooled it
7.0field-weighted citation impact, top 2% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

66 citing papers in PubMed, 7 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 117 citations in OpenAlex.

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6 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.

Chia-Ling KuoDepartment of Community Medicine and Health Care, Connecticut Convergence Institute for Translation in Regenerative Engineering, Institute for Systems Genomics, University of Connecticut Health, Farmington, CT, USA.ORCID 0000-0003-4452-2380
Luke C PillingEpidemiology and Public Health Group, University of Exeter Medical School, RILD Level 3, Royal Devon & Exeter Hospital, Exeter, UK.
George A KuchelCenter on Aging, School of Medicine, University of Connecticut, Farmington, CT, USA.
Luigi FerrucciNational Institute on Aging, Baltimore, MD, USA.
David MelzerEpidemiology and Public Health Group, University of Exeter Medical School, RILD Level 3, Royal Devon & Exeter Hospital, Exeter, UK.
University of Connecticut · USNational Institute on Aging · USUConn Health · USUniversity of Exeter · GB

Funding

Medical Research Council MC_PC_17228Medical Research Council MC_QA137853NIA NIH HHS
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Inherited genetic variation influencing leukocyte telomere length provides a natural experiment for testing associations with health outcomes, more robust to confounding and reverse causation than observational studies. We tested associations between genetically determined telomere length and aging-related health outcomes in a large European ancestry older cohort. Data were from n = 379,758 UK Biobank participants aged 40-70, followed up for mean of 7.5 years (n = 261,837 participants aged 60 and older by end of follow-up). Thirteen variants strongly associated with longer telomere length in peripheral white blood cells were analyzed using Mendelian randomization methods with Egger plots to assess pleiotropy. Variants in TERC, TERT, NAF1, OBFC1, and RTEL1 were included, and estimates were per 250 base pairs increase in telomere length, approximately equivalent to the average change over a decade in the general white population. We highlighted associations with false discovery rate-adjusted p-values smaller than .05. Genetically determined longer telomere length was associated with lowered risk of coronary heart disease (CHD; OR = 0.95, 95% CI: 0.92-0.98) but raised risk of cancer (OR = 1.11, 95% CI: 1.06-1.16). Little evidence for associations were found with parental lifespan, centenarian status of parents, cognitive function, grip strength, sarcopenia, or falls. The results for those aged 60 and older were similar in younger or all participants. Genetically determined telomere length was associated with increased risk of cancer and reduced risk of CHD but little change in other age-related health outcomes. Telomere lengthening may offer little gain in later-life health status and face increasing cancer risks.

Indexed as

Mendelian Randomization AnalysisAdultAgedAged, 80 and overAgingCohort StudiesFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedRisk FactorsTelomere Homeostasisanti-agingcellular senescencecentenariansfrailtylongevitysarcopeniaTERTUK Biobank

Identifiers

PMID31444995
PMCPMC6826144
OpenAlexW2969654243

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.