Predictive value of telomere length on outcome following acute myocardial infarction: evidence for contrasting effects of vascular vs. blood oxidative stress.
Aims
Experimental evidence suggests that telomere length (TL) is shortened by oxidative DNA damage, reflecting biological aging. We explore the value of blood (BTL) and vascular TL (VTL) as biomarkers of systemic/vascular oxidative stress in humans and test the clinical predictive value of BTL in acute myocardial infarction (AMI).


Methods and results
In a prospective cohort of 290 patients surviving recent AMI, BTL measured on admission was a strong predictor of all-cause [hazard ratio (HR) [95% confidence interval (CI)]: 3.21 [1.46-7.06], P = 0.004] and cardiovascular mortality (HR [95% CI]: 3.96 [1.65-9.53], P = 0.002) 1 year after AMI (for comparisons of short vs. long BTL, as defined by a T/S ratio cut-off of 0.916, calculated using receiver operating characteristic analysis; P adjusted for age and other predictors). To explore the biological meaning of these findings, BTL was quantified in 727 consecutive patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG), and superoxide (O2.-) was measured in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMNC). VTL/vascular O2.- were quantified in saphenous vein (SV) and mammary artery (IMA) segments. Patients were genotyped for functional genetic polymorphisms in P22ph°x (activating NADPH-oxidases) and vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMC) selected by genotype were cultured from vascular tissue. Short BTL was associated with high O2.- in PBMNC (P = 0.04) but not in vessels, whereas VTL was related to O2.- in IMA (ρ = -0.49, P = 0.004) and SV (ρ = -0.52, P = 0.01). Angiotensin II (AngII) incubation of VSMC (30 days), as a means of stimulating NADPH-oxidases, increased O2.- and reduced TL in carriers of the high-responsiveness P22ph°x alleles (P = 0.007).


Conclusion
BTL predicts cardiovascular outcomes post-AMI, independently of age, whereas VTL is a tissue-specific (rather than a global) biomarker of vascular oxidative stress. The lack of a strong association between BTL and VTL reveals the importance of systemic vs. vascular factors in determining clinical outcomes after AMI.
['Margaritis|Marios|M|', 'Sanna|Fabio|F|', 'Lazaros|George|G|', 'Akoumianakis|Ioannis|I|', 'Patel|Sheena|S|', 'Antonopoulos|Alexios S|AS|', 'Duke|Chloe|C|', 'Herdman|Laura|L|', 'Psarros|Costas|C|', 'Oikonomou|Evangelos K|EK|', 'Shirodaria|Cheerag|C|', 'Petrou|Mario|M|', 'Sayeed|Rana|R|', 'Krasopoulos|George|G|', 'Lee|Regent|R|', 'Tousoulis|Dimitris|D|', 'Channon|Keith M|KM|', 'Antoniades|Charalambos|C|']
D000368:Aged D015415:Biomarkers D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases D005260:Female D006801:Humans D007963:Leukocytes, Mononuclear D008297:Male D008323:Mammary Arteries D008875:Middle Aged D009131:Muscle, Smooth, Vascular D009203:Myocardial Infarction D019255:NADPH Oxidases D018384:Oxidative Stress D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic D011379:Prognosis D011446:Prospective Studies D012501:Saphenous Vein D013481:Superoxides D016615:Telomere
Telomere length Superoxide NADPH-oxidases Post-procedural outcome