Journal
VIRUS GENES
Volume 59, Issue 4, Pages 489-498Publisher
SPRINGER
DOI: 10.1007/s11262-023-02010-1
Keywords
SARS-COV-2; Telomere shortening; Covid-19; Severity; Adverse outcome
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Telomere shortening, a marker of cellular aging, has been found to be associated with the severity and hospitalization of COVID-19. However, the results from this systematic review and meta-analysis do not provide clear evidence of an association between shorter telomere length and severe COVID-19 disease.
Telomere shortening, a marker of cellular aging, has been linked to hospitalization and the severity of COVID-19. In this systematic review and meta-analysis, the mean difference in telomere length between non-severe and severe COVID-19 individuals was pooled to determine the association between short telomeres and COVID-19 severity. Relevant studies were retrieved through searches conducted in PubMed-Medline, Scopus, EMBASE, Medrxiv, Biorxiv, EuroPMC, and SSRN databases up to November 2022. Selected studies were systematically reviewed and assessed for risk of bias using AXIS tool. The standardized mean difference in telomere length between non-severe and severe COVID-19 was pooled using random-effects model. A total of thirteen studies were included in the review, out of which seven (1332 patients with the severe COVID-19 disease and 6321 patients with non-severe COVID-19) were eligible for meta-analysis. The estimated pooled mean difference in Leukocyte telomere length between severe COVID-19 and non-severe COVID-19 was 0.39 (95% CI - 0.02 to 0.81, I-2 = 93.5%) with substantial heterogeneity. Our findings do not provide clear evidence for association of shorter telomere length and severe COVID-19 disease. More extensive studies measuring absolute telomere length with age and gender adjustments are needed to draw definitive conclusions on the potential causal association between telomere shortening and COVID-19 severity.
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