ArticleGenome biology2024
Breaking down causes, consequences, and mediating effects of telomere length variation on human health.
Article in Genome biology, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers.
What it found
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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.
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Who cites it
9 citing papers in PubMed.
- Telomere length dynamics do not predict subclinical atherosclerosis progression over a six-year period.GeroScience · 2026Article
- Hematopoietic Aging and Leukemia: Mechanistic and Therapeutic Insights.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Review
- A telomere-lipid-immunity axis linking viral integration to autoimmune disease risk.GeroScience · 2026Article
- Longer leukocyte telomere length increases the odds of premature rupture of membranes: a cross-sectional study based on UK Biobank.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Impact of smoking and alcohol consumption on telomere length: A univariable and multivariable Mendelian randomization study.Medicine · 2025Article
- Modelling of biological age in stable and acute exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.BMC pulmonary medicine · 2025Article
- Causal Inference Approaches Reveal Associations Between LDL Oxidation, NO Metabolism, Telomere Length and DNA Integrity Within the MARK-AGE Study.Antioxidants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Disentangling mechanisms behind the pleiotropic effects of proximal 16p11.2 BP4-5 CNVs.American journal of human genetics · 2024Article
- Breaking down causes, consequences, and mediating effects of telomere length variation on human health.Genome biology · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundTelomeres form repeated DNA sequences at the ends of chromosomes, which shorten with each cell division. Yet, factors modulating telomere attrition and the health consequences thereof are not fully understood. To address this, we leveraged data from 326,363 unrelated UK Biobank participants of European ancestry.
resultsUsing linear regression and bidirectional univariable and multivariable Mendelian randomization (MR), we elucidate the relationships between leukocyte telomere length (LTL) and 142 complex traits, including diseases, biomarkers, and lifestyle factors. We confirm that telomeres shorten with age and show a stronger decline in males than in females, with these factors contributing to the majority of the 5.4% of LTL variance explained by the phenome. MR reveals 23 traits modulating LTL. Smoking cessation and high educational attainment associate with longer LTL, while weekly alcohol intake, body mass index, urate levels, and female reproductive events, such as childbirth, associate with shorter LTL. We also identify 24 traits affected by LTL, with risk for cardiovascular, pulmonary, and some autoimmune diseases being increased by short LTL, while longer LTL increased risk for other autoimmune conditions and cancers. Through multivariable MR, we show that LTL may partially mediate the impact of educational attainment, body mass index, and female age at childbirth on proxied lifespan.
conclusionsOur study sheds light on the modulators, consequences, and the mediatory role of telomeres, portraying an intricate relationship between LTL, diseases, lifestyle, and socio-economic factors.
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