04052nas a2200913 4500008004100000022001400041245006900055210006600124260001300190300001000203490000700213520168500220653001001905653000901915653002201924653001001946653001101956653001101967653000901978653001601987653001602003653001302019100002102032700001602053700001702069700001902086700001902105700002102124700002402145700001702169700002202186700002702208700001902235700002002254700002602274700001402300700001802314700002302332700001802355700001502373700001502388700002002403700002502423700001702448700002902465700001802494700002002512700001802532700001902550700001902569700002102588700002002609700001802629700001802647700002102665700001902686700001902705700002402724700002302748700001202771700001902783700002002802700001602822700002102838700001702859700001702876700001602893700001502909700001402924700001502938700002802953700002002981700001603001700001503017700002603032700002103058710002303079856003603102 2014 eng d a1873-681500aGender and telomere length: systematic review and meta-analysis.0 aGender and telomere length systematic review and metaanalysis c2014 Mar a15-270 v513 a
BACKGROUND: It is widely believed that females have longer telomeres than males, although results from studies have been contradictory.
METHODS: We carried out a systematic review and meta-analyses to test the hypothesis that in humans, females have longer telomeres than males and that this association becomes stronger with increasing age. Searches were conducted in EMBASE and MEDLINE (by November 2009) and additional datasets were obtained from study investigators. Eligible observational studies measured telomeres for both females and males of any age, had a minimum sample size of 100 and included participants not part of a diseased group. We calculated summary estimates using random-effects meta-analyses. Heterogeneity between studies was investigated using sub-group analysis and meta-regression.
RESULTS: Meta-analyses from 36 cohorts (36,230 participants) showed that on average females had longer telomeres than males (standardised difference in telomere length between females and males 0.090, 95% CI 0.015, 0.166; age-adjusted). There was little evidence that these associations varied by age group (p=1.00) or cell type (p=0.29). However, the size of this difference did vary by measurement methods, with only Southern blot but neither real-time PCR nor Flow-FISH showing a significant difference. This difference was not associated with random measurement error.
CONCLUSIONS: Telomere length is longer in females than males, although this difference was not universally found in studies that did not use Southern blot methods. Further research on explanations for the methodological differences is required.
10aAdult10aAged10aAged, 80 and over10aAging10aFemale10aHumans10aMale10aMiddle Aged10aSex Factors10aTelomere1 aGardner, Michael1 aBann, David1 aWiley, Laura1 aCooper, Rachel1 aHardy, Rebecca1 aNitsch, Dorothea1 aMartin-Ruiz, Carmen1 aShiels, Paul1 aSayer, Avan Aihie1 aBarbieri, Michelangela1 aBekaert, Sofie1 aBischoff, Claus1 aBrooks-Wilson, Angela1 aChen, Wei1 aCooper, Cyrus1 aChristensen, Kaare1 aDe Meyer, Tim1 aDeary, Ian1 aDer, Geoff1 aRoux, Ana, Diez1 aFitzpatrick, Annette1 aHajat, Anjum1 aHalaschek-Wiener, Julius1 aHarris, Sarah1 aHunt, Steven, C1 aJagger, Carol1 aJeon, Hyo-Sung1 aKaplan, Robert1 aKimura, Masayuki1 aLansdorp, Peter1 aLi, Changyong1 aMaeda, Toyoki1 aMangino, Massimo1 aNawrot, Tim, S1 aNilsson, Peter1 aNordfjall, Katarina1 aPaolisso, Giuseppe1 aRen, Fu1 aRiabowol, Karl1 aRobertson, Tony1 aRoos, Goran1 aStaessen, Jan, A1 aSpector, Tim1 aTang, Nelson1 aUnryn, Brad1 aHarst, Pim1 aWoo, Jean1 aXing, Chao1 aYadegarfar, Mohammad, E1 aPark, Jae, Yong1 aYoung, Neal1 aKuh, Diana1 avon Zglinicki, Thomas1 aBen-Shlomo, Yoav1 aHalcyon study team uhttps://chs-nhlbi.org/node/6246