Abstract
Background
Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is common among type 2 diabetes (T2D) and increases the risk of kidney failure and cardiovascular diseases. Shorter leukocyte telomere length is associated with CKD in patients with T2D. We previously reported single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with leukocyte telomere length in Asian population. In this study, we elucidated the association of these SNPs with CKD in patients with T2D using Mendelian randomization (MR) approach.
Methods
The cross-sectional association of 16 leukocyte telomere length SNPs with CKD, defined as an estimated glomerular filtration rate of less than 60 ml/min/1.73m2 was assessed among 4,768 (1,628 cases, 3,140 controls) participants in the Singapore Study of Macro-angiopathy and Micro-vascular Reactivity in Type 2 Diabetes and Diabetic Nephropathy cohorts. MR analysis was performed using the random-effect inverse-variance weighted (IVW) method, the weighted median, MR-Egger and Radial MR adjusted for age and sex-stratified by cohorts and ethnicity (Chinese and Malays), then meta-analysed.
Results
Genetically determined shorter leukocyte telomere length was associated with increased risk of CKD in patients with T2D (meta-IVW adjusted odds ratio = 1.51 [95% confidence interval, 1.12 - 2.12; P = 0.007; Phet= 0.547]). Similar results were obtained following sensitivity analysis. MR-Egger analysis (intercept) suggested no evidence of horizontal pleiotropy (β = 0.010, P = 0.751).
Conclusions
Our findings suggest that genetically determined leukocyte telomere length is associated with CKD in patients with T2D. Further studies are warranted to elucidate the causal role of telomere length in CKD progression.
Comparison Between Southern Blots and qPCR Analysis of Leukocyte Telomere Length in the Health ABC Study
