Telomere length and age-dependent telomere attrition: the blood-and-muscle model

Short telomere length (TL) is associated with atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ACVD) and other age-related diseases. It is unclear whether these associations originate from having inherently short TL or a faster TL attrition before or during disease development. We proposed the blood-and-muscle model to assess TL dynamics throughout life course. Our objective was to measure TL in leukocytes (LTL) and in skeletal muscle (MTL), which served as a proxy of TL at birth. The delta (MTL-LTL) represented life-long telomere attrition. Blood draws and skeletal muscle biopsies were performed on 35 Lebanese individuals undergoing surgery. Following DNA extraction, LTL and MTL were measured by Southern blot. In every individual aged between 30 and 85 years, MTL was longer than LTL. With age, MTL and LTL decreased, but the delta (MTL-LTL) increased by 14 bp/year. We validated the blood-and-muscle model that allowed us to identify TL, TL at birth, and lifelong TL attrition in a cross-sectional study. This model can be used in larger cross-sectional studies to evaluate the association of telomere dynamics with age-related diseases onset and progression.