Shortened leukocyte telomere length and aging in association with

the risk of developing Type 2 diabetes.

Radius Hartanto Octavius/Universitas Tarumanagara, Jakarta/2015

ABSTRACT

IntroductionTelomeres protected chromosomes from degeneration, allowing

cells to divide without losing genes. Once telomeres are shortened to a critical
length, cells are triggered into replicative senescence, which is associated with
aging. The high rate of morbidity due to type 2 diabetes is a global issue and
aging is a major risk factor for Type 2 diabetes, thus writer hypothesizes that
telomere shortening might increase the risk of developing type 2 diabetes. This
would help future endeavor in developing preventive intervention for type 2
diabetes.
MethodsSystematic journal review from the Internet, both laboratory and
clinical studies regarding the association between shortened telomere length with
type 2 diabetes.
ResultsA study on mice shows that shortened telomere length would impair the
replicative potential of pancreatic beta cell and several prospective clinical studies
had proven that longer length of telomere would reduce the risk of developing
type 2 diabetes ( = 2.78; hazard ratio [HR] 0.06 [95% CI 0.010.42].
ConclusionsShortened telomere length is highly associated with the risk of
developing type 2 diabetes and it might be a casual mediator for other risk factors
of type 2 diabetes. To prove this, further prospective studies are needed.

Keywords: Telomere, aging, type 2 diabetes