Journal
HYPERTENSION
Volume 36, Issue 2, Pages 195-200Publisher
LIPPINCOTT WILLIAMS & WILKINS
DOI: 10.1161/01.HYP.36.2.195
Keywords
blood pressure; pulse; age; twins
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Funding
- NCRR NIH HHS [RR03655-11] Funding Source: Medline
- NHLBI NIH HHS [HL-54998, HL-94011] Funding Source: Medline
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There is evidence that telomeres, the ends of chromosomes, serve as clocks that pace cellular aging in vitro and in vivo. In industrialized nations, pulse pressure rises with age, and it might serve as a phenotype of biological aging of the vasculature. We therefore conducted a twin study to investigate the relation between telomere length in white blood cells and pulse pressure while simultaneously assessing the role of genetic factors in determining telomere length. We measured by Southern blot analysis the mean length of the terminal restriction fragments (TRF) in white blood cells of 49 twin pairs from the Danish Twin Register and assessed the relations of blood pressure parameters with TRF. TRF length showed an inverse relation with pulse pressure. Both TRF length and pulse pressure were highly familial. We conclude that telomere length, which is under genetic control, might play a role in mechanisms that regulate pulse pressure, including vascular aging.
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