Longer telomeres in chronic, moderate, unconjugated hyperbilirubinaemia: insights from a human study on Gilbert's Syndrome.

ABSTRACT: Bilirubin (BR) is a natural endogenous compound with a potent bioactivity. Gilbert's Syndrome (GS) is a benign hereditary condition of increased unconjugated bilirubin (UCB) in serum and serves as a convenient model for studying the effects of BR in humans. In absence of liver disease, increased UCB levels are inversely associated to all-cause mortality risk, especially from cardiovascular diseases (CVDs). On the other hand, telomere malfunction is linked to a higher risk of CVDs. To our knowledge, there is no data on whether UCB is linked to telomere length in healthy or diseased individuals In the present study we have observed a relationship between mildly increased serum UCB and telomere length. We used an in vivo approach, assessing telomere length in PBMCs from individuals with GS (n

SUBMITTER: Tosevska A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4772088 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature