TY - JOUR
T1 - Cytomegalovirus Infection Reduces Telomere Length of the Circulating T Cell Pool
AU - van de Berg, Pablo J. E. J.
AU - Griffiths, Stephen J.
AU - Yong, Si-La
AU - Macaulay, Richard
AU - Bemelman, Frederike J.
AU - Jackson, Sarah
AU - Henson, Sian M.
AU - ten Berge, Ineke J. M.
AU - Akbar, Arne N.
AU - van Lier, René A. W.
PY - 2010
Y1 - 2010
N2 - Short telomeres of circulating leukocytes are a risk factor for age-related diseases, such as atherosclerosis, but the exact mechanisms generating variations in telomere length are unknown. We hypothesized that induction of differentiated T cells during chronic CMV infection would affect T cell telomere length. To test this, we measured the amount of differentiated T cells and telomere length of lymphocytes during primary CMV infection as well as CMV-seropositive and -seronegative healthy individuals. After primary CMV infection, we observed an increase in highly differentiated cells that coincided with a steep drop in telomere length. Moreover, we found in a cohort of 159 healthy individuals that telomere shortening was more rapid in CMV-seropositive individuals and correlated with the amount of differentiated T cells in both CD4(+) T cells and CD8(+) T cells. Finally, we found that telomere length measured in blood leukocytes is correlated with lymphocyte telomere length. Thus, CMV infection induces a strong decrease in T cell telomere length, which can be explained by changes in the composition of the circulating lymphocyte pool. The Journal of Immunology, 2010,184: 3417-3423
AB - Short telomeres of circulating leukocytes are a risk factor for age-related diseases, such as atherosclerosis, but the exact mechanisms generating variations in telomere length are unknown. We hypothesized that induction of differentiated T cells during chronic CMV infection would affect T cell telomere length. To test this, we measured the amount of differentiated T cells and telomere length of lymphocytes during primary CMV infection as well as CMV-seropositive and -seronegative healthy individuals. After primary CMV infection, we observed an increase in highly differentiated cells that coincided with a steep drop in telomere length. Moreover, we found in a cohort of 159 healthy individuals that telomere shortening was more rapid in CMV-seropositive individuals and correlated with the amount of differentiated T cells in both CD4(+) T cells and CD8(+) T cells. Finally, we found that telomere length measured in blood leukocytes is correlated with lymphocyte telomere length. Thus, CMV infection induces a strong decrease in T cell telomere length, which can be explained by changes in the composition of the circulating lymphocyte pool. The Journal of Immunology, 2010,184: 3417-3423
U2 - https://doi.org/10.4049/jimmunol.0903442
DO - https://doi.org/10.4049/jimmunol.0903442
M3 - Article
C2 - 20176738
SN - 0022-1767
VL - 184
SP - 3417
EP - 3423
JO - Journal of immunology (Baltimore, Md.
JF - Journal of immunology (Baltimore, Md.
IS - 7
ER -