HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS REGISTER		Author Keyword(s) Vol Page [Advanced]

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: ard.2006.056903v1 65/11/1444    most recent Submit a response Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this link to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Add article to my folders Download to citation manager Request Permissions Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Zhai, G Articles by Spector, T D Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Zhai, G Articles by Spector, T D

Reduction of leucocyte telomere length in radiographic hand osteoarthritis: a population-based study

¹ Twin Research and Genetic Epidemiology Unit, St Thomas’ Hospital, London, UK
² Department of Paediatrics, Hypertension Research Centre, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, NJ Medical School, Newark, New Jersey, USA
³ Clinical Epidemiology Research and Training Unit, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA

Correspondence to:
Correspondence to:
G Zhai
Twin Research and Genetic Epidemiology Unit, St Thomas’ Hospital, Lambeth Palace Road, London SE1 7EH, UK;guangju.zhai{at}kcl.ac.uk

Background: Although age is the strongest predictor of osteoarthritis, the exact mechanism underlying this disorder remains elusive.

Objective: To examine the association between leucocyte telomere length (LTL), a bio-indicator of ageing, and radiographic hand osteoarthritis.

Methods: An unselected, predominantly female sample from the TwinsUK Adult Twin Registry (Twin Research and Genetic Epidemiology Unit, St Thomas Hospital, London, UK) was studied. Radiographs of both hands were obtained with a standard posteroanterior view and assessed for radiographic osteoarthritis according to the Kellgren/Lawrence (K/L) score. Individual radiographic features including osteophytes and joint space narrowing (JSN) were also assessed on a four-point scale using a standard atlas. Hand osteoarthritis was defined radiographically as having 3 osteoarthritis-affected joints of both hands (K/L score2). Severity of hand osteoarthritis was indicated semiquantitatively by total K/L scores, osteophytes, JSN scores and proportion of joints affected. Mean LTL was measured by the terminal restriction fragment length using the Southern blot.

Results: A total of 1086 Caucasian subjects (mean (SD) age 55 (8.0) years) were studied. LTL was 6.95 (0.64) kb and was inversely correlated with age. After adjustment for age, sex, body mass index and smoking, LTL was significantly shorter by 178 bp in subjects with hand osteoarthritis (n = 160) than in those without (n = 926; p = 0.04). LTL was also significantly associated with semicontinuous measures of osteoarthritis (eg, total K/L score, JSN score, osteophyte score and proportion of joints affected) after adjustment (all p0.02) in a dose–response fashion.

Conclusion: Shorter LTL equivalent to around 11 years of annual loss in normal people is associated with radiographic hand osteoarthritis and disease severity, suggesting potential shared mechanisms between osteoarthritis and ageing, and implicating oxidative stress and low-level chronic inflammation in both conditions.

Abbreviations: BMI, body mass index; JSN, joint space narrowing; K/L, Kellgren/Lawrence; LTL, leucocyte telomere length; SSC, 0.3 M trisodium citrate and 3.0 M sodium chloride in high-purity dH₂O, pH 0.7; TRF, terminal restriction fragment

This article has been cited by other articles:

				V. Bataille, B. S. Kato, M. Falchi, J. Gardner, M. Kimura, M. Lens, U. Perks, A. M. Valdes, D. C. Bennett, A. Aviv, et al. Nevus Size and Number Are Associated with Telomere Length and Represent Potential Markers of a Decreased Senescence In vivo Cancer Epidemiol. Biomarkers Prev., July 1, 2007; 16(7): 1499 - 1502. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]