Association of peripheral leukocyte telomere length with patients with rheumatoid arthritis with a focus on interstitial lung disease
Background/Aims This study investigated whether telomere length (TL) in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients is shorter than in controls, whether TL in RA patients with interstitial lung disease (RA-ILD) differs from that in those without ILD (RA-nonILD), and whether TL varies according to RA-ILD patt...
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The Korean Association of Internal Medicine
2025-07-01
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| Series: | The Korean Journal of Internal Medicine |
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| Online Access: | http://kjim.org/upload/kjim-2024-148.pdf |
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| author | Young Bin Joo So-Young Bang Su Jin Hong Youkyung Lee Dongjik Shin Sang-Cheol Bae Hye-Soon Lee |
| author_facet | Young Bin Joo So-Young Bang Su Jin Hong Youkyung Lee Dongjik Shin Sang-Cheol Bae Hye-Soon Lee |
| author_sort | Young Bin Joo |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Background/Aims This study investigated whether telomere length (TL) in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients is shorter than in controls, whether TL in RA patients with interstitial lung disease (RA-ILD) differs from that in those without ILD (RA-nonILD), and whether TL varies according to RA-ILD patterns. Methods TL was measured in peripheral leukocytes using quantitative polymerase chain reaction. Results were compared between controls (n = 14), RA (n = 70), RA-ILD (n = 53), and RA-nonILD (n = 53), and between the subgroups with usual interstitial pneumonia (UIP; n = 32) and nonspecific interstitial pneumonia (NSIP; n = 8), with age- and sex-matching in each comparison. The correlation between TL and honeycombing extent was determined. Results RA patients had significantly shorter TL (8.3 ± 2.5 kb) than controls (9.5 ± 0.8 kb; p = 0.002). No significant TL difference was found between RA-ILD and RA-nonILD (8.2 ± 2.8 vs 7.7 ± 2.4 kb, p = 0.271). Among RA-ILD, age (p = 0.011), disease activity (p = 0.018), and UIP (p = 0.038) were significantly associated with shortened TL. TL in UIP was shorter than in NSIP (7.4 ± 1.9 vs. 10.0 ± 3.1 kb, p = 0.026). Honeycombing extent in UIP showed a negative correlation with TL but it was nonsignificant (Rho = -0.131, p = 0.387). Conclusions This study confirms that RA is associated with shorter TL than in healthy individuals and suggests variations in TL among RA-ILD subtypes, indicating that telomere involvement in pathogenesis may differ by subtype. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-b1ed65ebb79f4b5e9aba8dadd8233667 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1226-3303 2005-6648 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-07-01 |
| publisher | The Korean Association of Internal Medicine |
| record_format | Article |
| series | The Korean Journal of Internal Medicine |
| spelling | doaj-art-b1ed65ebb79f4b5e9aba8dadd82336672025-08-20T03:58:17ZengThe Korean Association of Internal MedicineThe Korean Journal of Internal Medicine1226-33032005-66482025-07-0140467668610.3904/kjim.2024.148171041Association of peripheral leukocyte telomere length with patients with rheumatoid arthritis with a focus on interstitial lung diseaseYoung Bin Joo0So-Young Bang1Su Jin Hong2Youkyung Lee3Dongjik Shin4Sang-Cheol Bae5Hye-Soon Lee6 Division of Rheumatology, Department of Internal Medicine, Hanyang University Guri Hospital, Hanyang University College of Medicine, Guri, Korea Division of Rheumatology, Department of Internal Medicine, Hanyang University Guri Hospital, Hanyang University College of Medicine, Guri, Korea Department of Radiology, Hanyang University Guri Hospital, Hanyang University College of Medicine, Guri, Korea Department of Radiology, Hanyang University Guri Hospital, Hanyang University College of Medicine, Guri, Korea MEDIZEN HUMANCARE Inc., Seoul, Korea Hanyang University Institute for Rheumatology Research, Seoul, Korea Division of Rheumatology, Department of Internal Medicine, Hanyang University Guri Hospital, Hanyang University College of Medicine, Guri, KoreaBackground/Aims This study investigated whether telomere length (TL) in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients is shorter than in controls, whether TL in RA patients with interstitial lung disease (RA-ILD) differs from that in those without ILD (RA-nonILD), and whether TL varies according to RA-ILD patterns. Methods TL was measured in peripheral leukocytes using quantitative polymerase chain reaction. Results were compared between controls (n = 14), RA (n = 70), RA-ILD (n = 53), and RA-nonILD (n = 53), and between the subgroups with usual interstitial pneumonia (UIP; n = 32) and nonspecific interstitial pneumonia (NSIP; n = 8), with age- and sex-matching in each comparison. The correlation between TL and honeycombing extent was determined. Results RA patients had significantly shorter TL (8.3 ± 2.5 kb) than controls (9.5 ± 0.8 kb; p = 0.002). No significant TL difference was found between RA-ILD and RA-nonILD (8.2 ± 2.8 vs 7.7 ± 2.4 kb, p = 0.271). Among RA-ILD, age (p = 0.011), disease activity (p = 0.018), and UIP (p = 0.038) were significantly associated with shortened TL. TL in UIP was shorter than in NSIP (7.4 ± 1.9 vs. 10.0 ± 3.1 kb, p = 0.026). Honeycombing extent in UIP showed a negative correlation with TL but it was nonsignificant (Rho = -0.131, p = 0.387). Conclusions This study confirms that RA is associated with shorter TL than in healthy individuals and suggests variations in TL among RA-ILD subtypes, indicating that telomere involvement in pathogenesis may differ by subtype.http://kjim.org/upload/kjim-2024-148.pdftelomererheumatoid arthritisinterstitial lung diseaseusual interstitial pneumonia |
| spellingShingle | Young Bin Joo So-Young Bang Su Jin Hong Youkyung Lee Dongjik Shin Sang-Cheol Bae Hye-Soon Lee Association of peripheral leukocyte telomere length with patients with rheumatoid arthritis with a focus on interstitial lung disease The Korean Journal of Internal Medicine telomere rheumatoid arthritis interstitial lung disease usual interstitial pneumonia |
| title | Association of peripheral leukocyte telomere length with patients with rheumatoid arthritis with a focus on interstitial lung disease |
| title_full | Association of peripheral leukocyte telomere length with patients with rheumatoid arthritis with a focus on interstitial lung disease |
| title_fullStr | Association of peripheral leukocyte telomere length with patients with rheumatoid arthritis with a focus on interstitial lung disease |
| title_full_unstemmed | Association of peripheral leukocyte telomere length with patients with rheumatoid arthritis with a focus on interstitial lung disease |
| title_short | Association of peripheral leukocyte telomere length with patients with rheumatoid arthritis with a focus on interstitial lung disease |
| title_sort | association of peripheral leukocyte telomere length with patients with rheumatoid arthritis with a focus on interstitial lung disease |
| topic | telomere rheumatoid arthritis interstitial lung disease usual interstitial pneumonia |
| url | http://kjim.org/upload/kjim-2024-148.pdf |
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