Rapid telomere shortening in children

Telomere shortening may reflect the total number of divisions experienced b y a somatic cell and is associated with replicative senescence. We found th at the average rate of telomere shortening in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) obtained longitudinally from nine different infants during th e first 3 years of life (270 bp per year) is more than fourfold higher than in adults and does not correlate with telomerase activity, These results s how that the rate of telomere loss changes during ontogeny, suggesting the existence of periods of accelerated cell division, Because human immunodefi ciency virus (HIV) preferentially infects actively dividing cells, our obse rvation suggesting accelerated cell division in children may provide an exp lanation for some of the distinctive pathogenic features of the HIV disease in infants, including higher viral loads and more rapid progression to acq uired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). This is a US government work. There are no restrictions on its use.