Shorter telomeres are associated with earlier disease

Shorter telomeres are associated with earlier disease

Every blood vessel in our body, from the large vessels to the small vessels, has a layer of endothelium in the inner layer. If you want your vascular system to remain healthy, the endothelial cells need to be constantly refreshed to keep immune cells out of the gap.

Some people are more susceptible to cardiovascular disease because the telomeres in white blood cells are too short. (In general, too short telomeres in blood cells are associated with shorter telomeres in other tissues, such as endothelial cells.) People with genetically altered telomeres that are shorter are also more likely to have cardiovascular problems.

Shorter telomeres are associated with earlier disease. Shorter telomeres can cause cell aging. With luck, we can phase out such aging cells early, but they can also be present in tissues all the time. There are many reasons for human aging, and one common factor is destruction of telomeres. Aging cells accumulate for decades and grow to a certain number, which becomes the basis of pathological tissue. Inflammation shortens telomeres and causes cells to age. Cell aging, in turn, triggers more inflammatory responses.

If the telomere length in your blood cells is less than two-thirds of the rest of the population, your risk of future cardiovascular disease is 40 percent higher. Why is that? Although we do not fully understand all the pathways involved, we do know that vascular cell ageing is one of them: short telomeres cause cells to prematurely age, leaving endothelial cells unable to renew, and the lining of blood vessels to become fragile, rough and therefore prone to disease. The researchers found that in the blood vessel tissue where the plaque had formed, the cells' telomeres also became very short.

In addition, too short telomeres in blood cells can trigger an inflammatory response, paving the way for cardiovascular disease. Inflammatory cells can stick to the sides of the arteries, trapping cholesterol, forming plaques or making old plaques more likely to fall off. If the plaque breaks off, a clot can form on the plaque, causing a blockage in the artery. If the blocked artery is a coronary artery, it can cut off the blood flow to the heart, causing a heart attack.