Leukocyte Telomere Length and Risks of Incident Coronary Heart Disease and Mortality in a Racially Diverse Population of Postmenopausal Women

Cara L Carty; Charles Kooperberg; Jingmin Liu; Megan Herndon; Themistocles Assimes; Lifang Hou; Candyce H Kroenke; Andrea Z LaCroix; Masayuki Kimura; Abraham Aviv; Alexander P Reiner

doi:10.1161/ATVBAHA.115.305838

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Leukocyte Telomere Length and Risks of Incident Coronary Heart Disease and Mortality in a Racially Diverse Population of Postmenopausal Women

Journal article

Open access

Peer reviewed

Leukocyte Telomere Length and Risks of Incident Coronary Heart Disease and Mortality in a Racially Diverse Population of Postmenopausal Women

Cara L Carty, Charles Kooperberg, Jingmin Liu, Megan Herndon, Themistocles Assimes, Lifang Hou, Candyce H Kroenke, Andrea Z LaCroix, Masayuki Kimura, Abraham Aviv, …

Arteriosclerosis, thrombosis, and vascular biology, Vol.35(10), pp.2225-2231

10/2015

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1161/ATVBAHA.115.305838

PMCID: PMC4713196

PMID: 26249011

Abstract

Severity of Illness Index

Postmenopause - genetics

Confidence Intervals

European Continental Ancestry Group - genetics

Prognosis

Risk Assessment

Humans

Middle Aged

Proportional Hazards Models

African Americans - genetics

Postmenopause - ethnology

Coronary Disease - physiopathology

Survival Rate

Coronary Disease - ethnology

Leukocytes

Case-Control Studies

Incidence

Coronary Disease - genetics

Female

Aged

Genetic Predisposition to Disease - epidemiology

Telomere - genetics

Telomeres are regions at the ends of chromosomes that maintain chromosomal structural integrity and genomic stability. In studies of mainly older, white populations, shorter leukocyte telomere length (LTL) is associated with cardiometabolic risk factors and increased risks of mortality and coronary heart disease (CHD). On average, African Americans (AfAm) have longer LTL than whites, but the LTL-CHD relationship in AfAm is unknown. We investigated the relationship of LTL with CHD and mortality among AfAm. Using a case-cohort design, 1525 postmenopausal women (667 AfAm and 858 whites) from the Women's Health Initiative had LTL measured in baseline blood samples by Southern blotting. CHD or mortality hazards ratios were estimated using race-stratified and risk factor-adjusted Cox proportional hazards models. There were 367 incident CHD (226 mortality) events in whites, whereas AfAm experienced 269 incident CHD (216 mortality) events during median follow-up of 13 years. Shorter LTL was associated with older age, current smoking, and white race/ethnicity. In whites, each 1 kilobase decrease in LTL was associated with 50% increased hazard of CHD, hazard ratio=1.50 (95% confidence interval, 1.08-2.10), P=0.017. There was no association between CHD and LTL in AfAm. White women with shorter LTL had higher risks of mortality. In contrast, shorter LTL was weakly associated with decreased mortality hazard in AfAm. As one of the largest prospective studies of LTL associations with incident CHD and mortality in a racially diverse sample, our study suggests differences in LTL associations with CHD and mortality between white and AfAm postmenopausal women.

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Title: Leukocyte Telomere Length and Risks of Incident Coronary Heart Disease and Mortality in a Racially Diverse Population of Postmenopausal Women
Creators: Cara L Carty - From the Division of Biostatistics and Study Methodology, Center for Translational Science, George Washington University and Children's National Medical Center, Washington, DC (C.L.C.); Division of Public Health Sciences, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA (C.K., J.L., M.H., A.P.R.); Department of Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, CA (T.A.); Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Prevention, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL (L.H.); Kaiser Permanente Division of Research, Oakland, CA (C.H.K.); Department of Epidemiology, University of California, San Diego (A.Z.L.); Center of Development and Aging, New Jersey Medical School, Rutgers State University of New Jersey, Newark (M.K., A.A.); and Department of Epidemiology, University of Washington, Seattle (A.P.R.). ccarty@cnmc.org
Charles Kooperberg - From the Division of Biostatistics and Study Methodology, Center for Translational Science, George Washington University and Children's National Medical Center, Washington, DC (C.L.C.); Division of Public Health Sciences, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA (C.K., J.L., M.H., A.P.R.); Department of Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, CA (T.A.); Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Prevention, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL (L.H.); Kaiser Permanente Division of Research, Oakland, CA (C.H.K.); Department of Epidemiology, University of California, San Diego (A.Z.L.); Center of Development and Aging, New Jersey Medical School, Rutgers State University of New Jersey, Newark (M.K., A.A.); and Department of Epidemiology, University of Washington, Seattle (A.P.R.)
Jingmin Liu - From the Division of Biostatistics and Study Methodology, Center for Translational Science, George Washington University and Children's National Medical Center, Washington, DC (C.L.C.); Division of Public Health Sciences, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA (C.K., J.L., M.H., A.P.R.); Department of Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, CA (T.A.); Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Prevention, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL (L.H.); Kaiser Permanente Division of Research, Oakland, CA (C.H.K.); Department of Epidemiology, University of California, San Diego (A.Z.L.); Center of Development and Aging, New Jersey Medical School, Rutgers State University of New Jersey, Newark (M.K., A.A.); and Department of Epidemiology, University of Washington, Seattle (A.P.R.)
Megan Herndon - From the Division of Biostatistics and Study Methodology, Center for Translational Science, George Washington University and Children's National Medical Center, Washington, DC (C.L.C.); Division of Public Health Sciences, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA (C.K., J.L., M.H., A.P.R.); Department of Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, CA (T.A.); Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Prevention, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL (L.H.); Kaiser Permanente Division of Research, Oakland, CA (C.H.K.); Department of Epidemiology, University of California, San Diego (A.Z.L.); Center of Development and Aging, New Jersey Medical School, Rutgers State University of New Jersey, Newark (M.K., A.A.); and Department of Epidemiology, University of Washington, Seattle (A.P.R.)
Themistocles Assimes - From the Division of Biostatistics and Study Methodology, Center for Translational Science, George Washington University and Children's National Medical Center, Washington, DC (C.L.C.); Division of Public Health Sciences, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA (C.K., J.L., M.H., A.P.R.); Department of Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, CA (T.A.); Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Prevention, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL (L.H.); Kaiser Permanente Division of Research, Oakland, CA (C.H.K.); Department of Epidemiology, University of California, San Diego (A.Z.L.); Center of Development and Aging, New Jersey Medical School, Rutgers State University of New Jersey, Newark (M.K., A.A.); and Department of Epidemiology, University of Washington, Seattle (A.P.R.)
Lifang Hou - From the Division of Biostatistics and Study Methodology, Center for Translational Science, George Washington University and Children's National Medical Center, Washington, DC (C.L.C.); Division of Public Health Sciences, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA (C.K., J.L., M.H., A.P.R.); Department of Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, CA (T.A.); Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Prevention, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL (L.H.); Kaiser Permanente Division of Research, Oakland, CA (C.H.K.); Department of Epidemiology, University of California, San Diego (A.Z.L.); Center of Development and Aging, New Jersey Medical School, Rutgers State University of New Jersey, Newark (M.K., A.A.); and Department of Epidemiology, University of Washington, Seattle (A.P.R.)
Candyce H Kroenke - From the Division of Biostatistics and Study Methodology, Center for Translational Science, George Washington University and Children's National Medical Center, Washington, DC (C.L.C.); Division of Public Health Sciences, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA (C.K., J.L., M.H., A.P.R.); Department of Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, CA (T.A.); Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Prevention, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL (L.H.); Kaiser Permanente Division of Research, Oakland, CA (C.H.K.); Department of Epidemiology, University of California, San Diego (A.Z.L.); Center of Development and Aging, New Jersey Medical School, Rutgers State University of New Jersey, Newark (M.K., A.A.); and Department of Epidemiology, University of Washington, Seattle (A.P.R.)
Andrea Z LaCroix - From the Division of Biostatistics and Study Methodology, Center for Translational Science, George Washington University and Children's National Medical Center, Washington, DC (C.L.C.); Division of Public Health Sciences, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA (C.K., J.L., M.H., A.P.R.); Department of Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, CA (T.A.); Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Prevention, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL (L.H.); Kaiser Permanente Division of Research, Oakland, CA (C.H.K.); Department of Epidemiology, University of California, San Diego (A.Z.L.); Center of Development and Aging, New Jersey Medical School, Rutgers State University of New Jersey, Newark (M.K., A.A.); and Department of Epidemiology, University of Washington, Seattle (A.P.R.)
Masayuki Kimura - From the Division of Biostatistics and Study Methodology, Center for Translational Science, George Washington University and Children's National Medical Center, Washington, DC (C.L.C.); Division of Public Health Sciences, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA (C.K., J.L., M.H., A.P.R.); Department of Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, CA (T.A.); Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Prevention, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL (L.H.); Kaiser Permanente Division of Research, Oakland, CA (C.H.K.); Department of Epidemiology, University of California, San Diego (A.Z.L.); Center of Development and Aging, New Jersey Medical School, Rutgers State University of New Jersey, Newark (M.K., A.A.); and Department of Epidemiology, University of Washington, Seattle (A.P.R.)
Abraham Aviv - From the Division of Biostatistics and Study Methodology, Center for Translational Science, George Washington University and Children's National Medical Center, Washington, DC (C.L.C.); Division of Public Health Sciences, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA (C.K., J.L., M.H., A.P.R.); Department of Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, CA (T.A.); Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Prevention, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL (L.H.); Kaiser Permanente Division of Research, Oakland, CA (C.H.K.); Department of Epidemiology, University of California, San Diego (A.Z.L.); Center of Development and Aging, New Jersey Medical School, Rutgers State University of New Jersey, Newark (M.K., A.A.); and Department of Epidemiology, University of Washington, Seattle (A.P.R.)
Alexander P Reiner - From the Division of Biostatistics and Study Methodology, Center for Translational Science, George Washington University and Children's National Medical Center, Washington, DC (C.L.C.); Division of Public Health Sciences, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA (C.K., J.L., M.H., A.P.R.); Department of Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, CA (T.A.); Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Prevention, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL (L.H.); Kaiser Permanente Division of Research, Oakland, CA (C.H.K.); Department of Epidemiology, University of California, San Diego (A.Z.L.); Center of Development and Aging, New Jersey Medical School, Rutgers State University of New Jersey, Newark (M.K., A.A.); and Department of Epidemiology, University of Washington, Seattle (A.P.R.)
Publication Details: Arteriosclerosis, thrombosis, and vascular biology, Vol.35(10), pp.2225-2231
Date published: 10/2015
Grant note: HHSN268201100046C / NHLBI NIH HHS HHSN268201100002I / NHLBI NIH HHS HHSN271201100004C / NIA NIH HHS HHSN268201100001C / WHI NIH HHS HHSN268201100004I / NHLBI NIH HHS HHSN268201300007C / NHLBI NIH HHS HHSN268201100002C / WHI NIH HHS HHSN268201100001I / NHLBI NIH HHS P30 CA015704 / NCI NIH HHS R01 HL116446 / NHLBI NIH HHS HHSN268201100003C / WHI NIH HHS HHSN268201100004C / WHI NIH HHS
Academic Unit: Pediatrics - Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrics (NJMS)
Language: English
Resource Type: Journal article
Identifiers: 991031654510804646