Genetics of leukocyte telomere length and its role in atherosclerosis

A Aviv - … Research/Fundamental and Molecular Mechanisms of …, 2012 - Elsevier
Humans display a large inter-individual variation in leukocyte telomere length (LTL), which
is influenced by heredity, sex, race/ethnicity, paternal age at conception and environmental
exposures. LTL dynamics (birth LTL and its age-dependent attrition thereafter) mirror
telomere dynamics in hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs). LTL at birth is evidently a major
determinant of LTL throughout the human lifespan, such that individuals endowed with short
(or long) LTL at birth probably have short (or long) LTL later in life. Therefore, the …