Short telomere length is associated with renal impairment in Japanese subjects with cardiovascular risk

IntroductionShort telomere length has been suggested to be associated with atherosclerotic changes in Western populations. We examined the relationships between leukocyte telomere length and cardiovascular and renal function in a Japanese cohort.Participants and methodsWe enrolled 770 subjects who each had at least one cardiovascular risk factor. The mean age was 59.5 ± 12.2 years; mean BMI was 25.1 ± 4.6 kg/m2. We measured leukocyte telomere length (LTL) by quantitative PCR (T/S ratio), and measured other biomarkers from blood and urine samples. In addition, we assessed surrogate markers of arterial stiffness, cardiovascular organ damage and kidney function, including flow-mediated vasodilation (FMD), pulse wave velocity (PWV), carotid artery augmentation index (CAAI), and urinary albumin creatinine ratio (UACR) and eGFR.ResultsLeukocyte telomere length (T/S ratio) was inversely associated with age (r = -0.194, PConclusionsIn this Japanese sample of persons with increased cardiovascular risk, telomere length showed a relationship of longer telomere length to better renal function, but did not overall show convincing association with cardiovascular measures of arterial stiffness and target organ damage.