Abstract
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.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 15-27 |
| Number of pages | 13 |
| Journal | Experimental Gerontology |
| Volume | 51 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Mar 2014 |
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Keywords
- Epidemiology
- Gender
- Measurement methods
- Systematic review and meta-analysis
- Telomere length
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Aging
- Biochemistry
- Cell Biology
- Endocrinology
- Genetics
- Molecular Biology
Cite this
Gender and telomere length : Systematic review and meta-analysis. / Gardner, Michael; Bann, David; Wiley, Laura; Cooper, Rachel; Hardy, Rebecca; Nitsch, Dorothea; Martin-Ruiz, Carmen; Shiels, Paul; Sayer, Avan Aihie; Barbieri, Michelangela; Bekaert, Sofie; Bischoff, Claus; Brooks-Wilson, Angela; Chen, Wei; Cooper, Cyrus; Christensen, Kaare; De Meyer, Tim; Deary, Ian; Der, Geoff; Roux, Ana Diez; Fitzpatrick, Annette; Hajat, Anjum; Halaschek-Wiener, Julius; Harris, Sarah; Hunt, Steven C.; Jagger, Carol; Jeon, Hyo Sung; Kaplan, Robert; Kimura, Masayuki; Lansdorp, Peter; Li, Changyong; Maeda, Toyoki; Mangino, Massimo; Nawrot, Tim S.; Nilsson, Peter; Nordfjall, Katarina; Paolisso, Giuseppe; Ren, Fu; Riabowol, Karl; Robertson, Tony; Roos, Goran; Staessen, Jan A.; Spector, Tim; Tang, Nelson; Unryn, Brad; van der Harst, Pim; Woo, Jean; Xing, Chao; Yadegarfar, Mohammad E.; Park, Jae Yong; Young, Neal; Kuh, Diana; von Zglinicki, Thomas; Ben-Shlomo, Yoav.
In: Experimental Gerontology, Vol. 51, No. 1, 03.2014, p. 15-27.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Gender and telomere length
T2 - Systematic review and meta-analysis
AU - Gardner, Michael
AU - Bann, David
AU - Wiley, Laura
AU - Cooper, Rachel
AU - Hardy, Rebecca
AU - Nitsch, Dorothea
AU - Martin-Ruiz, Carmen
AU - Shiels, Paul
AU - Sayer, Avan Aihie
AU - Barbieri, Michelangela
AU - Bekaert, Sofie
AU - Bischoff, Claus
AU - Brooks-Wilson, Angela
AU - Chen, Wei
AU - Cooper, Cyrus
AU - Christensen, Kaare
AU - De Meyer, Tim
AU - Deary, Ian
AU - Der, Geoff
AU - Roux, Ana Diez
AU - Fitzpatrick, Annette
AU - Hajat, Anjum
AU - Halaschek-Wiener, Julius
AU - Harris, Sarah
AU - Hunt, Steven C.
AU - Jagger, Carol
AU - Jeon, Hyo Sung
AU - Kaplan, Robert
AU - Kimura, Masayuki
AU - Lansdorp, Peter
AU - Li, Changyong
AU - Maeda, Toyoki
AU - Mangino, Massimo
AU - Nawrot, Tim S.
AU - Nilsson, Peter
AU - Nordfjall, Katarina
AU - Paolisso, Giuseppe
AU - Ren, Fu
AU - Riabowol, Karl
AU - Robertson, Tony
AU - Roos, Goran
AU - Staessen, Jan A.
AU - Spector, Tim
AU - Tang, Nelson
AU - Unryn, Brad
AU - van der Harst, Pim
AU - Woo, Jean
AU - Xing, Chao
AU - Yadegarfar, Mohammad E.
AU - Park, Jae Yong
AU - Young, Neal
AU - Kuh, Diana
AU - von Zglinicki, Thomas
AU - Ben-Shlomo, Yoav
PY - 2014/3
Y1 - 2014/3
N2 - 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.
AB - 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.
KW - Epidemiology
KW - Gender
KW - Measurement methods
KW - Systematic review and meta-analysis
KW - Telomere length
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U2 - 10.1016/j.exger.2013.12.004
DO - 10.1016/j.exger.2013.12.004
M3 - Article
VL - 51
SP - 15
EP - 27
JO - Experimental Gerontology
JF - Experimental Gerontology
SN - 0531-5565
IS - 1
ER -