A causal relationship between leukocyte telomere length and multiple sclerosis: A Mendelian randomization study.

ABSTRACT:

Objectives

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic inflammatory autoimmune and degenerative disorder of the central nervous system. Telomeres are protective structures located at the ends of linear chromosomes, and leukocyte telomere length (LTL) is closely connected with cell aging and senescence. However, the relationship between LTL and the risk of MS remains unknown.

Methods

We performed a two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) to evaluate whether LTL was causally associated with MS risk.

Results

In our MR analysis, 12 LTL-related variants were selected as valid instrumental variables, and a causal relationship between LTL and MS was suggested. The risk of MS nearly doubled as the genetically predicted LTL shortened by one standard deviation (SD) under the inverse v

SUBMITTER: Liao Q 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9337212 | biostudies-literature | 2022

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature