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Gender and telomere length: systematic review and meta-analysis.
Friday,2014-03-07 11:00 America/Los_Angeles — eenright
| Title | Gender and telomere length: systematic review and meta-analysis. |
| Publication Type | Journal Article |
| Year of Publication | 2014 |
| Authors | Gardner, M, Bann, D, Wiley, L, Cooper, R, Hardy, R, Nitsch, D, Martin-Ruiz, C, Shiels, P, Sayer, AA, Barbieri, M, Bekaert, S, Bischoff, C, Brooks-Wilson, A, Chen, W, Cooper, C, Christensen, K, De Meyer, T, Deary, I, Der, G, Roux, ADiez, Fitzpatrick, A, Hajat, A, Halaschek-Wiener, J, Harris, S, Hunt, SC, Jagger, C, Jeon, H-S, Kaplan, R, Kimura, M, Lansdorp, P, Li, C, Maeda, T, Mangino, M, Nawrot, TS, Nilsson, P, Nordfjall, K, Paolisso, G, Ren, F, Riabowol, K, Robertson, T, Roos, G, Staessen, JA, Spector, T, Tang, N, Unryn, B, van der Harst, P, Woo, J, Xing, C, Yadegarfar, ME, Park, JYong, Young, N, Kuh, D, von Zglinicki, T, Ben-Shlomo, Y |
| Corporate/Institutional Authors | Halcyon study team |
| Journal | Exp Gerontol |
| Volume | 51 |
| Pagination | 15-27 |
| Date Published | 2014 Mar |
| ISSN | 1873-6815 |
| Keywords | Adult, Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Aging, Female, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Sex Factors, Telomere |
| Abstract | <p><b>BACKGROUND: </b>It is widely believed that females have longer telomeres than males, although results from studies have been contradictory.</p><p><b>METHODS: </b>We carried out a systematic review and meta-analyses to test the hypothesis that in humans, females have longer telomeres than males and that this association becomes stronger with increasing age. Searches were conducted in EMBASE and MEDLINE (by November 2009) and additional datasets were obtained from study investigators. Eligible observational studies measured telomeres for both females and males of any age, had a minimum sample size of 100 and included participants not part of a diseased group. We calculated summary estimates using random-effects meta-analyses. Heterogeneity between studies was investigated using sub-group analysis and meta-regression.</p><p><b>RESULTS: </b>Meta-analyses from 36 cohorts (36,230 participants) showed that on average females had longer telomeres than males (standardised difference in telomere length between females and males 0.090, 95% CI 0.015, 0.166; age-adjusted). There was little evidence that these associations varied by age group (p=1.00) or cell type (p=0.29). However, the size of this difference did vary by measurement methods, with only Southern blot but neither real-time PCR nor Flow-FISH showing a significant difference. This difference was not associated with random measurement error.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS: </b>Telomere length is longer in females than males, although this difference was not universally found in studies that did not use Southern blot methods. Further research on explanations for the methodological differences is required.</p> |
| DOI | 10.1016/j.exger.2013.12.004 |
| Alternate Journal | Exp. Gerontol. |
| PubMed ID | 24365661 |
| PubMed Central ID | PMC4523138 |
| Grant List | ETM/55 / / Chief Scientist Office / United Kingdom N01HC55222 / HC / NHLBI NIH HHS / United States CZB/4/505 / / Chief Scientist Office / United Kingdom N01-HC-95162 / HC / NHLBI NIH HHS / United States MC_UP_A620_1015 / / Medical Research Council / United Kingdom MR/K023209/1 / / Medical Research Council / United Kingdom N01HC85080 / HC / NHLBI NIH HHS / United States UL1 RR025005 / RR / NCRR NIH HHS / United States UL1-RR-025005 / RR / NCRR NIH HHS / United States U01 HL080295 / HL / NHLBI NIH HHS / United States HL80698 / HL / NHLBI NIH HHS / United States MC_UU_12011/2 / / Medical Research Council / United Kingdom HHSN268200800007C / HL / NHLBI NIH HHS / United States N01-HC-95163 / HC / NHLBI NIH HHS / United States N01-HC-95168 / HC / NHLBI NIH HHS / United States N01HC95169 / HL / NHLBI NIH HHS / United States UL1-RR-024156 / RR / NCRR NIH HHS / United States G0500997 / / Medical Research Council / United Kingdom UL1 RR024156 / RR / NCRR NIH HHS / United States N01-HC-95159 / HC / NHLBI NIH HHS / United States N01-HC-95165 / HC / NHLBI NIH HHS / United States R01 HL080698 / HL / NHLBI NIH HHS / United States N01HC55222 / HL / NHLBI NIH HHS / United States MR/K026992/1 / / Medical Research Council / United Kingdom MC_UU_12017/5 / / Medical Research Council / United Kingdom N01HC85086 / HL / NHLBI NIH HHS / United States MC_UP_A620_1014 / / Medical Research Council / United Kingdom N01HC85081 / HC / NHLBI NIH HHS / United States N01HC85079 / HC / NHLBI NIH HHS / United States HHSN268201200036C / HL / NHLBI NIH HHS / United States N01-HC-95169 / HC / NHLBI NIH HHS / United States N01-HC-95164 / HC / NHLBI NIH HHS / United States N01HC95159 / HL / NHLBI NIH HHS / United States N01HC85086 / HC / NHLBI NIH HHS / United States N01-HC-95160 / HC / NHLBI NIH HHS / United States R01 HL080295 / HL / NHLBI NIH HHS / United States N01HC85082 / HC / NHLBI NIH HHS / United States HHSN268200800007C / / PHS HHS / United States N01HC85082 / HL / NHLBI NIH HHS / United States MC_UU_12011/1 / / Medical Research Council / United Kingdom N01HC85083 / HL / NHLBI NIH HHS / United States G0700704 / / Medical Research Council / United Kingdom MR/K007017/1 / / Medical Research Council / United Kingdom N01-HC-95161 / HC / NHLBI NIH HHS / United States HHSN268201200036C / / PHS HHS / United States HL080295 / HL / NHLBI NIH HHS / United States N01HC85083 / HC / NHLBI NIH HHS / United States BB/F019394/1 / / Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council / United Kingdom MC_UP_A540_1021 / / Medical Research Council / United Kingdom N01HC85079 / HL / NHLBI NIH HHS / United States MC_PC_13040 / / Medical Research Council / United Kingdom N01-HC-95166 / HC / NHLBI NIH HHS / United States R01 AG023629 / AG / NIA NIH HHS / United States N01HC85080 / HL / NHLBI NIH HHS / United States AG023629 / AG / NIA NIH HHS / United States R56 AG023629 / AG / NIA NIH HHS / United States MC_UU_12017/7 / / Medical Research Council / United Kingdom N01-HC-95167 / HC / NHLBI NIH HHS / United States N01HC85081 / HL / NHLBI NIH HHS / United States |