Shorter telomere lengths in patients with severe COVID-19 disease.
Aging (Albany NY)
; 13(1): 1-15, 2021 01 11.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1068118
ABSTRACT
The incidence of severe manifestations of COVID-19 increases with age with older patients showing the highest mortality, suggesting that molecular pathways underlying aging contribute to the severity of COVID-19. One mechanism of aging is the progressive shortening of telomeres, which are protective structures at chromosome ends. Critically short telomeres impair the regenerative capacity of tissues and trigger loss of tissue homeostasis and disease. The SARS-CoV-2 virus infects many different cell types, forcing cell turn-over and regeneration to maintain tissue homeostasis. We hypothesize that presence of short telomeres in older patients limits the tissue response to SARS-CoV-2 infection. We measure telomere length in peripheral blood lymphocytes COVID-19 patients with ages between 29 and 85 years-old. We find that shorter telomeres are associated to increased severity of the disease. Individuals within the lower percentiles of telomere length and higher percentiles of short telomeres have higher risk of developing severe COVID-19 pathologies.
Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Aging
/
Telomere
/
Telomere Shortening
/
COVID-19
Type of study:
Diagnostic study
/
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
Limits:
Adult
/
Aged
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
/
Middle aged
Language:
English
Journal:
Aging (Albany NY)
Journal subject:
Geriatrics
Year:
2021
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Aging.202463
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