Telomere shortening -- a sign of cellular aging -- linked to signs of Alzheimer's in brain scans
The length of the telomeres which cap chromosomes is associated with a
reduced risk of dementia, but not stroke or Parkinson's

Date:
March 22, 2023
Source:
PLOS
Summary:
Changes in the brain caused by Alzheimer's disease are associated
with shortening of the telomeres -- the protective caps on the
ends of chromosomes that shorten as cells age -- according to a
new study.


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FULL STORY ========================================================================== Changes in the brain caused by Alzheimer's disease are associated
with shortening of the telomeres -- the protective caps on the ends of chromosomes that shorten as cells age -- according to a new study led
by Anya Topiwala of Oxford Population Health, part of the University of
Oxford, UK, published March 22 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE.


========================================================================== Telomeres on chromosomes protect DNA from degrading, but every time a
cell divides, the telomeres lose some of their length. Short telomeres
are a sign of stress and cellular aging, and are also associated with a
higher risk of neurological and psychiatric disorders. Currently, little
is known about the links between telomere length and changes that occur
in the brains of people with neurological conditions. Understanding those relationships could offer insights into the biological mechanisms that
cause neurodegenerative disorders.

In the new study, researchers compared telomere length in white blood
cells to results from brain MRIs and electronic health records from more
than 31,000 participants in the UK Biobank, a large-scale biomedical
database and research resource containing anonymized genetic, lifestyle
and health information from half a million UK participants. The analysis revealed that patients with longer telomeres also tended to have better
brain health. They had a larger volume of grey matter in their brains
overall and a larger hippocampus, both of which shrink in patients with Alzheimer's disease. Longer telomeres were also associated with a thicker cerebral cortex -- the outer, folded layer of grey matter -- which thins
as Alzheimer's disease progresses. The researchers speculate that longer telomeres might therefore help protect patients from developing dementia, though there was no association with stroke or Parkinson's disease.

Overall, the findings show that shorter telomeres can be linked to
multiple changes in the brain associated with dementia. To date, this is
the largest and richest study of the relationships between telomere length
and MRI markers in the brain. The associations suggest that accelerated
aging in the brain, as indicated by telomere length, could represent a biological pathway that leads to neurodegenerative disease.

The authors add: "We found associations between telomere length, a marker
of biological ageing, and multiple aspects of brain structure. This
may explain why individuals with longer telomeres have a lower risk
of dementia."
* RELATED_TOPICS
o Health_&_Medicine
# Healthy_Aging # Alzheimer's_Research # Nervous_System
# Diseases_and_Conditions
o Mind_&_Brain
# Disorders_and_Syndromes # Dementia # Alzheimer's #
Neuroscience
* RELATED_TERMS
o Alzheimer's_disease o Telomere o Dementia_with_Lewy_bodies
o Urinary_incontinence o Human_genome o Turner_syndrome o
Excitotoxicity_and_cell_damage o Neurobiology

========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by PLOS. Note: Content may be edited
for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Anya Topiwala, Thomas E. Nichols, Logan Z. J. Williams, Emma
C. Robinson,
Fidel Alfaro-Almagro, Bernd Taschler, Chaoyue Wang, Christopher P.

Nelson, Karla L. Miller, Veryan Codd, Nilesh J. Samani, Stephen
M. Smith.

Telomere length and brain imaging phenotypes in UK Biobank. PLOS
ONE, 2023; 18 (3): e0282363 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0282363 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/03/230322190926.htm

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