scholarly journals Seasonal variation in telomere length of a hibernating rodent

2013 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 20121095 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher Turbill ◽  
Thomas Ruf ◽  
Steve Smith ◽  
Claudia Bieber
Keyword(s):  
Telomere Length ◽  
Seasonal Changes ◽  
Life History Traits ◽  
Physiological State ◽  
Telomere Shortening ◽  
Active Season ◽  
Somatic Maintenance ◽  
Relative Telomere Length ◽  
Length Increase ◽  
Negative Effect

Small hibernating rodents have greater maximum lifespans and hence appear to age more slowly than similar-sized non-hibernators. We tested for a direct effect of hibernation on somatic maintenance and ageing by measuring seasonal changes in relative telomere length (RTL) in the edible dormouse Glis glis . Average RTL in our population did not change significantly over the hibernation season, and a regression model explaining individual variation in post-hibernation RTL suggested a significant negative effect of the reduction in body mass over the inactive hibernation period (an index of time spent euthermic), supporting the idea that torpor slows ageing. Over the active season, RTL on average decreased in sub-adults but increased in adults, supporting previous findings of greater telomere shortening at younger ages. Telomere length increase might also have been associated with reproduction, which occurred only in adults. Our study reveals how seasonal changes in physiological state influence the progress of life-history traits, such as somatic maintenance and ageing, in a small hibernating rodent.

scholarly journals Migration and stress during reproduction govern telomere dynamics in a seabird

2014 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 20130889 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jannik Schultner ◽  
Børge Moe ◽  
Olivier Chastel ◽  
Claus Bech ◽  
Alexander S. Kitaysky
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Telomere Length ◽  
Physiological State ◽  
Telomere Shortening ◽  
Rissa Tridactyla ◽  
Life History Stages ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Migratory Patterns ◽  
Telomere Dynamics ◽  
Winter Migration

Changes in telomere length are believed to reflect changes in physiological state and life expectancy in animals. However, much remains unknown about the determinants of telomere dynamics in wild populations, and specifically the influence of conditions during highly mobile life-history stages, for example migration. We tested whether telomere dynamics were associated with migratory behaviour and/or with stress during reproduction in free-living seabirds. We induced short-term stress during reproduction in chick-rearing, black-legged kittiwakes ( Rissa tridactyla ), tracked winter migration with geolocators and measured telomere length before and after winter migration. We found that time spent at wintering grounds correlated with reduced telomere loss, while stress during reproduction accelerated telomere shortening. Our results suggest that different life-history stages interact to influence telomere length, and that migratory patterns may be important determinants of variation in an individual's telomere dynamics.

scholarly journals Daily torpor is associated with telomere length change over winter in Djungarian hamsters

2011 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 304-307 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher Turbill ◽  
Steve Smith ◽  
Caroline Deimel ◽  
Thomas Ruf
Keyword(s):  
Telomere Length ◽  
Energy Savings ◽  
Physiological State ◽  
Length Change ◽  
Phodopus Sungorus ◽  
Physiological Changes ◽  
Daily Torpor ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
Relative Telomere Length ◽  
Air Temperatures

Ageing can progress at different rates according to an individual's physiological state. Natural hypothermia, including torpor and hibernation, is a common adaptation of small mammals to survive intermittent or seasonal declines in environmental conditions. In addition to allowing energy savings, hypothermia and torpor have been associated with retarded ageing and increased longevity. We tested the hypothesis that torpor use slows ageing by measuring changes in the relative telomere length (RTL) of Djungarian hamsters, Phodopus sungorus , a highly seasonal rodent using spontaneous daily torpor, over 180 days of exposure to a short-day photoperiod and warm (approx. 20°C) or cold (approx. 9°C) air temperatures. Multi-model inference showed that change in RTL within individuals was best explained by positive effects of frequency of torpor use, particularly at low body temperatures, as well as the change in body mass and initial RTL. Telomere dynamics have been linked to future survival and proposed as an index of rates of biological ageing. Our results therefore support the hypothesis that daily torpor is associated with physiological changes that increase somatic maintenance and slow the processes of ageing.

scholarly journals Shorter telomere length is associated with a more recent diagnosis of coeliac disease

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pierre Goorkiz ◽  
Nerissa L Hearn ◽  
Saskia van der Kooi ◽  
Christine L Chiu ◽  
Joanne M Lind
Keyword(s):  
Coeliac Disease ◽  
Telomere Length ◽  
Mucosal Damage ◽  
Gluten Free ◽  
Telomere Shortening ◽  
Relative Telomere Length ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Autoimmune Conditions ◽  
Recent Diagnosis ◽  
Inflammatory Immune Response

AbstractBackgroundCoeliac disease (CD) is an autoimmune disease that causes an inappropriate inflammatory immune response to dietary gluten. Telomere length is a marker of biological ageing and is reduced in several autoimmune conditions. This observational study measured salivary telomere length (TL) in gluten-free diet (GFD) treated CD individuals to determine if CD, and length of time on a GFD, is associated with salivary TL.MethodsClinical and demographic information was collected from CD individuals currently treated with a GFD and healthy non-affected controls. Only participants aged under 35 years at recruitment were included. Relative telomere length was measured using quantitative PCR in oral mucosa collected from saliva. Linear regression was used to determine whether salivary TL was associated with CD, or length of time on a GFD, adjusting for age and sex.ResultsThis study included 79 participants, 52 GFD-treated CD and 27 non-affected controls. No significant difference in salivary TL between individuals with treated CD and controls was found. Within CD individuals, salivary TL was associated with length of time on a GFD, with individuals who started a GFD ≤3 years ago having shorter salivary TL compared to those who started a GFD > 3 years ago (0.37±0.05 vs 0.50±0.04; p=0.002).ConclusionOur findings indicate that salivary TL shorten while CD is untreated, however following treatment on a GFD, they appear to recover to those seen in unaffected controls. This highlights the importance of early diagnosis and initiation of GFD to minimise mucosal damage and telomere shortening, to enable TL to recover.

scholarly journals Does Telomere Shortening Precede the Onset of Hypertension in Spontaneously Hypertensive Mice?

2016 ◽  
Vol 19 (5) ◽  
pp. 422-429 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christine L. Chiu ◽  
Nerissa L. Hearn ◽  
Devin Paine ◽  
Nicole Steiner ◽  
Joanne M. Lind
Keyword(s):  
Telomere Length ◽  
Genomic Dna ◽  
Heart Tissue ◽  
Biological Aging ◽  
Telomere Shortening ◽  
Spontaneously Hypertensive ◽  
Time Points ◽  
Relative Telomere Length ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Established Disease

Telomere length is widely considered as a marker of biological aging. Clinical studies have reported associations between reduced telomere length and hypertension. The aim of this study was to compare telomere length in hypertensive and normotensive mice at pre-disease and established disease time points to determine whether telomere length differs between the strains before and after the onset of disease. Genomic DNA was extracted from kidney and heart tissues of 4-, 12-, and 20-week-old male hypertensive (BPH/2J) and normotensive (BPN/3J) mice. Relative telomere length (T/S) was measured using quantitative PCR. Age was inversely correlated with telomere length in both strains. In 4-week-old pre-hypertensive animals, no difference in T/S was observed between BPH/2J and BPN/3J animals in kidney or heart tissue (kidney p = 0.14, heart p = 0.06). Once the animals had established disease, at 12 and 20 weeks, BPH/2J mice had significantly shorter telomeres when compared to their age-matched controls in both kidney (12 weeks p < 0.001 and 20 weeks p = 0.004) and heart tissues (12 weeks p < 0.001 and 20 weeks p < 0.001). This is the first study to show that differences in telomere lengths between BPH/2J and BPN/3J mice occur after the development of hypertension and do not cause hypertension in the BPH/2J mice.

Telomere Length, SIRT1, and Insulin in Male Master Athletes: The Path to Healthy Longevity?

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samuel S. Aguiar ◽  
Thiago S. Rosa ◽  
Rodrigo V. P. Neves ◽  
Patrício L. A. Leite ◽  
Larissa A. Maciel ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Telomere Length ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
Biological Aging ◽  
Master Athletes ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Telomere Shortening ◽  
Healthy Longevity ◽  
Relative Telomere Length ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Commercial Kits

AbstractLower SIRT1 and insulin resistance are associated with accelerated telomere shortening. This study investigated whether the lifestyle of master athletes can attenuate these age-related changes and thereby slow aging. We compared insulin, SIRT1, and telomere length in highly trained male master athletes (n=52; aged 49.9±7.2 yrs) and age-matched non-athletes (n=19; aged 47.3±8.9 yrs). This is a cross-sectional study, in which all data were collected in one visit. Overnight fasted SIRT1 and insulin levels in whole blood were assessed using commercial kits. Relative telomere length was determined in leukocytes through qPCR analyses. Master athletes had higher SIRT1, lower insulin, and longer telomere length than age-matched non-athletes (p<0.05 for all). Insulin was inversely associated with SIRT1 (r=−0.38; p=0.001). Telomere length correlated positively with SIRT1 (r=0.65; p=0.001), whereas telomere length and insulin were not correlated (r=0.03; p=0.87). In conclusion, master athletes have higher SIRT1, lower insulin, and longer telomeres than age-matched non-athletes. Furthermore, SIRT1 was negatively associated with insulin and positively associated with telomere length. These findings suggest that in this sample of middle-aged participants reduced insulin, increased SIRT1 activity, and attenuation of biological aging are connected.

scholarly journals Association Between Telomere Shortening and Ageing During Occupational Exposure

2012 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 211-216 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sima Eshkoor ◽  
Fatemeh Jahanshiri ◽  
Patimah Ismail ◽  
Sabariah Rahman ◽  
Saidi Moin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Occupational Exposure ◽  
Telomere Length ◽  
Single Copy ◽  
Accelerated Ageing ◽  
Telomere Shortening ◽  
Relative Telomere Length ◽  
Accelerate Ageing ◽  
Buccal Epithelial Cells ◽  
Exposed Workers ◽  
The Difference

Association Between Telomere Shortening and Ageing During Occupational ExposureTelomere length is considered as a biomarker of ageing, resulting in shortening during the process. The present investigation was an attempt to determine the relative telomere length in mechanical workshop workers. Telomere length shortening in cells during occupational exposure causes accelerated ageing. Genomic DNA was isolated from buccal epithelial cells collected from 240 individuals, comprising two groups of 120 exposed workers and 120 unexposed controls. Telomere length was measured by using real time PCR. Both telomere (T) and single copy gene (S) specific primers were used to compute the relative T/S ratio and expressed as the relative telomere length. Telomere length differed significantly between the workers and controls (p<0.05). The results showed an indirect and significant association (r=-0.356, p=0.001) between age and telomere length in the workers. This study showed that the difference in telomere length shortening was statistically significant (p<0.05) between the workers and controls. It was concluded that occupational exposure acts as a risk factor to enhance telomere length shortening and accelerate ageing.

Highlighting the Correlation Between Telomere Shortening and the Susceptibility to the Novel SARS-CoV-2 Virus (COVID-19)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aml Ghanem
Keyword(s):  
Telomere Length ◽  
Stress Responses ◽  
Viral Infections ◽  
Deep Understanding ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Telomere Shortening ◽  
Infection Pathways ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Demographic Distribution

COVID-19 is a global crisis that requires a deep understanding of infection pathways to facilitate the development of effective treatments and vaccines. Telomere, which is regarded as a biomarker for other respiratory viral infections, might influence the demographic distribution of COVID-19 infection and fatality rates. Viral infection can induce many cellular remodeling events and stress responses, including telomere specific alterations, just as telomere shortening. In brief, this letter aims to highlight the connection between telomere shortening and susceptibility to COVID-19 infection, in addition to changes in telomeric length according to the variation of age and gender of confirmed cases with COVID-19 infection. To sum up, the correlation is revealed from the available data that connect telomere length and COVID-19 infection, demonstrated in the fact that the elderly patients and males are more susceptible to COVID-19 due to shortening in their telomere length.

Regulation And Effect Of Telomerase And Telomeric Length In Stem Cells

2020 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Basak Celtikci ◽  
Gulnihal Kulaksiz Erkmen ◽  
Zeliha Gunnur Dikmen
Keyword(s):  
Telomere Length ◽  
Somatic Cells ◽  
Telomere Maintenance ◽  
The Other ◽  
Telomerase Reverse Transcriptase ◽  
Human Telomerase Reverse Transcriptase ◽  
Telomere Shortening ◽  
Maintenance Mechanism ◽  
Associated Diseases ◽  
Human Telomerase

: Telomeres are the protective end caps of eukaryotic chromosomes and they decide the proliferative lifespan of somatic cells, as the guardians of the cell replication. Telomere length in leucocytes reflects telomere length in other somatic cells. Leucocyte telomere length can be a biomarker of human ageing. The risk of diseases, which are associated with reduced cell proliferation and tissue degeneration, including aging or aging-associated diseases, such as dyskeratosis congenita, cardiovascular diseases, pulmonary fibrosis and aplastic anemia, are correlated with an increase in short telomeres. On the other hand, the risk of diseases, which are associated with increased proliferative growth, including major cancers, is correlated with long telomeres. In most of the cancers, a telomere maintenance mechanism during DNA replication is essential. The reactivation of the functional ribonucleoprotein holoenzyme complex [telomerase] starts the cascade from normal and premalignant somatic cells to advanced malignant cells. Telomerase is overexpressed during the development of cancer and embryonic stem cells, through controlling genome integrity, cancer formation and stemness. Cancer cells have mechanisms to maintain telomeres to avoid initiation of cellular senescence or apoptosis, and halting cell division by critically short telomeres. Modulation of the human telomerase reverse transcriptase is the ratelimiting step for the production of functional telomerase and the telomere maintenance. Human telomerase reverse transcriptase promoter promotes its gene expression only in tumor cells, but not in normal cells. Some cancers activate an alternative lengthening of telomeres maintenance mechanism via DNA recombination to unshorten their telomeres. Not only heritability but also oxidative stress, inflammation, environmental factors, and therapeutic interventions have an effect on telomere shortening, explaining the variability in telomere length across individuals. There have been a large number of publications, which correlate human diseases with progressive telomere shortening. Telomere length of an individual at birth is also important to follow up telomere shortening, and it can be used as biomarkers for healthy aging. On the other hand, understanding of cellular stress factors, which affect stem cell behavior, will be useful in regeneration or treatment in cancer and age-associated diseases. In this review, we will understand the connection between stem cell and telomere biology, cancer, and aging-associated diseases. This connection may be useful for discovering novel drug targets and improve outcomes for patients having cancer and aging-associated diseases.

scholarly journals Effect of seasonal malaria chemoprevention plus azithromycin on Plasmodium falciparum transmission: gametocyte infectivity and mosquito fitness

2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Koudraogo Bienvenue Yaméogo ◽  
Rakiswendé Serge Yerbanga ◽  
Seydou Bienvenu Ouattara ◽  
Franck A. Yao ◽  
Thierry Lefèvre ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Plasmodium Falciparum ◽  
Malaria Transmission ◽  
Life History Traits ◽  
Controlled Trial ◽  
Double Blind ◽  
Membrane Feeding ◽  
Seasonal Malaria Chemoprevention ◽  
Negative Effect ◽  
Transmission Period ◽  
Membrane Feeding Assay

Abstract Background Seasonal malaria chemoprevention (SMC) consists of administration of sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine (SP) + amodiaquine (AQ) at monthly intervals to children during the malaria transmission period. Whether the addition of azithromycin (AZ) to SMC could potentiate the benefit of the intervention was tested through a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial. The effect of SMC and the addition of AZ, on malaria transmission and on the life history traits of Anopheles gambiae mosquitoes have been investigated. Methods The study included 438 children randomly selected from among participants in the SMC + AZ trial and 198 children from the same area who did not receive chemoprevention. For each participant in the SMC + AZ trial, blood was collected 14 to 21 days post treatment, examined for the presence of malaria sexual and asexual stages and provided as a blood meal to An. gambiae females using a direct membrane-feeding assay. Results The SMC treatment, with or without AZ, significantly reduced the prevalence of asexual Plasmodium falciparum (LRT X22 = 69, P < 0.0001) and the gametocyte prevalence (LRT X22 = 54, P < 0.0001). In addition, the proportion of infectious feeds (LRT X22 = 61, P < 0.0001) and the prevalence of oocysts among exposed mosquitoes (LRT X22 = 22.8, P < 0.001) was reduced when mosquitoes were fed on blood from treated children compared to untreated controls. The addition of AZ to SPAQ was associated with an increased proportion of infectious feeds (LRT X21 = 5.2, P = 0.02), suggesting a significant effect of AZ on gametocyte infectivity. There was a slight negative effect of SPAQ and SPAQ + AZ on mosquito survival compared to mosquitoes fed with blood from control children (LRTX22 = 330, P < 0.0001). Conclusion This study demonstrates that SMC may contribute to a reduction in human to mosquito transmission of P. falciparum, and the reduced mosquito longevity observed for females fed on treated blood may increase the benefit of this intervention in control of malaria. The addition of AZ to SPAQ in SMC appeared to enhance the infectivity of gametocytes providing further evidence that this combination is not an appropriate intervention.

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