Genome-wide association study of telomere length among South Asians identifies a second RTEL1 association signal.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Leucocyte telomere length (TL) is a potential biomarker of ageing and risk for age-related disease. Leucocyte TL is heritable and shows substantial differences by race/ethnicity. Recent genome-wide association studies (GWAS) report ~10 loci harbouring SNPs associated with leucocyte TL, but these studies focus primarily on populations of European ancestry.

Objective

This study aims to enhance our understanding of genetic determinants of TL across populations.

Methods

We performed a GWAS of TL using data on 5075 Bangladeshi adults. We measured TL using one of two technologies (qPCR or a Luminex-based method) and used standardised variables as TL phenotypes.

Results

Our results replicate previously reported associations in the TERC and TERT

SUBMITTER: Delgado DA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5749304 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature