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Lupus in blacks associated with low vitamin D AND short telomeres – May 2013

Systemic Lupus Erythematosus and Vitamin D Deficiency Are Associated with Shorter Telomere Length among African Americans: A Case-Control Study.

PLoS One. 2013 May 20;8(5):e63725. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0063725. Print 2013.
Hoffecker BM, Raffield LM, Kamen DL, Nowling TK.
Department of Medicine, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina, United States of America.

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a chronic systemic autoimmune disease that disproportionately affects African American females. The causes of SLE are unknown but postulated to be a combination of genetic predisposition and environmental triggers. Vitamin D deficiency is one of the possible environmental triggers. In this study we evaluated relationships between vitamin D status, cellular aging (telomere length) and anti-telomere antibodies among African American Gullah women with SLE. The study population included African American female SLE patients and unaffected controls from the Sea Island region of South Carolina. Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels were measured using a nonchromatographic radioimmunoassay. Telomere length was measured in genomic DNA of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) by monochrome multiplex quantitative PCR. Anti-telomere antibody levels were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Patients with SLE had significantly shorter telomeres and higher anti-telomere antibody titers compared to age- and gender-matched unaffected controls. There was a positive correlation between anti-telomere antibody levels and disease activity among patients and a significant correlation of shorter telomeres with lower 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels in both patients and controls. In follow-up examination of a subset of the patients, the patients who remained vitamin D deficient tended to have shorter telomeres than those patients whose 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels were repleted. Increasing 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels in African American patients with SLE may be beneficial in maintaining telomere length and preventing cellular aging. Moreover, anti-telomere antibody levels may be a promising biomarker of SLE status and disease activity.
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PMID: 23700431


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See also VitaminDWiki

Attached files

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2521 teleomere.jpg admin 25 May, 2013 9.69 Kb 1683
2520 Lupus in blacks.pdf admin 25 May, 2013 448.55 Kb 1297