Diabetes, metabolic disease, and telomere length

Feifei Cheng; Luke Carroll; Mugdha V Joglekar; Andrzej S Januszewski; Kwun Kiu Wong; Anandwardhan A Hardikar; Alicia J Jenkins; Ronald C W Ma

doi:10.1016/S2213-8587(20)30365-X

Diabetes, metabolic disease, and telomere length

Lancet Diabetes Endocrinol. 2021 Feb;9(2):117-126. doi: 10.1016/S2213-8587(20)30365-X. Epub 2020 Nov 26.

Authors

Feifei Cheng¹, Luke Carroll², Mugdha V Joglekar³, Andrzej S Januszewski², Kwun Kiu Wong¹, Anandwardhan A Hardikar⁴, Alicia J Jenkins⁵, Ronald C W Ma⁶

Affiliations

¹ Department of Medicine and Therapeutics, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China; Laboratory for Molecular Epidemiology in Diabetes, Li Ka Shing Institute of Health Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China.
² NHMRC Clinical Trial Centre, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
³ NHMRC Clinical Trial Centre, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia; School of Medicine, Western Sydney University, Campbelltown, NSW, Australia.
⁴ NHMRC Clinical Trial Centre, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia; School of Medicine, Western Sydney University, Campbelltown, NSW, Australia. Electronic address: a.hardikar@westernsydney.edu.au.
⁵ Department of Medicine and Therapeutics, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China; NHMRC Clinical Trial Centre, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia. Electronic address: alicia.jenkins@ctc.usyd.edu.au.
⁶ Department of Medicine and Therapeutics, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China; Laboratory for Molecular Epidemiology in Diabetes, Li Ka Shing Institute of Health Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China; Hong Kong Institute of Diabetes and Obesity, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China; Chinese University of Hong Kong-Shanghai Jiao Tong University Joint Research Centre in Diabetes Genomics and Precision Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China; NHMRC Clinical Trial Centre, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia. Electronic address: rcwma@cuhk.edu.hk.

PMID: 33248477
DOI: 10.1016/S2213-8587(20)30365-X

Abstract

Telomeres are regions of repetitive nucleotide sequences at the ends of chromosomes. Telomere length is a marker of DNA damage, which is often considered a biomarker for biological ageing, and has also been linked with cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and cancer. Emerging studies have highlighted the role of genetic and environmental factors, and explored the effect of modulating telomere length. We provide an overview of studies to date on diabetes and telomere length, and compare different methods and assays for evaluating telomere length and telomerase activity. We highlight the limitations of current studies and areas that warrant further research to unravel the link between diabetes and telomere length. The value of adding telomere length to clinical risk factors to improve risk prediction of diabetes and related complications also merits further investigation.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Review

MeSH terms

Diabetes Complications / genetics*
Diabetes Mellitus / genetics*
Humans
Metabolic Diseases / genetics*
Risk Factors
Telomere / genetics*