Telomere length as an indicator of biological aging - The gender effect and relation with pulse pressure and pulse wave velocity

Chronological age is the primary determinant of stiffness of central arteri es. Increased stiffness is an independent indicator of cardiovascular risk. The aim of this study was to determine whether telomere length, a possible index of biological aging, provides a better account than chronological ag e for variation in arterial stiffness, evaluated by measuring pulse pressur e and aortic pulse wave velocity. The study population included 193 French subjects (120 men, 73 women), with a mean age of 56+/-11 years, who were no t on any antihypertensive medications. Telomere length was evaluated in whi te blood cells by measuring the mean length of the terminal restriction fra gments. Age-adjusted telomere length was longer in women than in men (8.67/-0.09 versus 8.37+/-0.07 kb; P=0.016). In both genders, telomere length wa s inversely correlated with age (P<0.01). Multivariate analysis showed that in men, but not in women, telomere length significantly contributed to pul se pressure and pulse wave velocity variations. In conclusion, telomere len gth provides an additional account to chronological age of variations in bo th pulse pressure and pulse wave velocity among men, such that men with sho rter telomere length are more likely to exhibit high pulse pressure and pul se wave velocity, which are indices of large artery stiffness. The longer t elomere length in women suggests that for a given chronological age, biolog ical aging of men is more advanced than that of women.