Telomeres and the natural lifespan limit in humans

Troels Steenstrup; Jeremy D. Kark; Simon Verhulst; Mikael Thinggaard; Jacob V.B. Hjelmborg; Christine Dalgård; Kirsten Ohm Kyvik; Lene Christiansen; Massimo Mangino; Timothy D. Spector; Inge Petersen; Masayuki Kimura; Athanase Benetos; Carlos Labat; Ronit Sinnreich; Shih Jen Hwang; Daniel Levy; Steven C. Hunt; Annette L. Fitzpatrick; Wei Chen; Gerald S. Berenson; Michelangela Barbieri; Giuseppe Paolisso; Shahinaz M. Gadalla; Sharon A. Savage; Kaare Christensen; Anatoliy I. Yashin; Konstantin G. Arbeev; Abraham Aviv

doi:10.18632/aging.101216

Telomeres and the natural lifespan limit in humans

Troels Steenstrup, Jeremy D. Kark, Simon Verhulst, Mikael Thinggaard, Jacob V.B. Hjelmborg, Christine Dalgård, Kirsten Ohm Kyvik, Lene Christiansen, Massimo Mangino, Timothy D. Spector, Inge Petersen, Masayuki Kimura, Athanase Benetos, Carlos Labat, Ronit Sinnreich, Shih Jen Hwang, Daniel Levy, Steven C. Hunt, Annette L. Fitzpatrick, Wei ChenGerald S. Berenson, Michelangela Barbieri, Giuseppe Paolisso, Shahinaz M. Gadalla, Sharon A. Savage, Kaare Christensen, Anatoliy I. Yashin, Konstantin G. Arbeev, Abraham Aviv

New Jersey Medical School (NJMS), Pediatrics, Center for Human Development & Aging

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

63 Scopus citations

Abstract

An ongoing debate in demography has focused on whether the human lifespan has a maximal natural limit. Taking a mechanistic perspective, and knowing that short telomeres are associated with diminished longevity, we examined whether telomere length dynamics during adult life could set a maximal natural lifespan limit. We define leukocyte telomere length of 5 kb as the 'telomeric brink', which denotes a high risk of imminent death. We show that a subset of adults may reach the telomeric brink within the current life expectancy and more so for a 100-year life expectancy. Thus secular trends in life expectancy should confront a biological limit due to crossing the telomeric brink.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	1130-1142
Number of pages	13
Journal	Aging
Volume	9
Issue number	4
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.18632/aging.101216
State	Published - 2017

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

Aging
Cell Biology

Keywords

Leukocytes
Life-expectancy
Longevity
Maximal lifespan
Sex

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10.18632/aging.101216

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Steenstrup, T., Kark, J. D., Verhulst, S., Thinggaard, M., Hjelmborg, J. V. B., Dalgård, C., Kyvik, K. O., Christiansen, L., Mangino, M., Spector, T. D., Petersen, I., Kimura, M., Benetos, A., Labat, C., Sinnreich, R., Hwang, S. J., Levy, D., Hunt, S. C., Fitzpatrick, A. L., ... Aviv, A. (2017). Telomeres and the natural lifespan limit in humans. Aging, 9(4), 1130-1142. https://doi.org/10.18632/aging.101216

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title = "Telomeres and the natural lifespan limit in humans",

abstract = "An ongoing debate in demography has focused on whether the human lifespan has a maximal natural limit. Taking a mechanistic perspective, and knowing that short telomeres are associated with diminished longevity, we examined whether telomere length dynamics during adult life could set a maximal natural lifespan limit. We define leukocyte telomere length of 5 kb as the 'telomeric brink', which denotes a high risk of imminent death. We show that a subset of adults may reach the telomeric brink within the current life expectancy and more so for a 100-year life expectancy. Thus secular trends in life expectancy should confront a biological limit due to crossing the telomeric brink.",

keywords = "Leukocytes, Life-expectancy, Longevity, Maximal lifespan, Sex",

author = "Troels Steenstrup and Kark, {Jeremy D.} and Simon Verhulst and Mikael Thinggaard and Hjelmborg, {Jacob V.B.} and Christine Dalg{\aa}rd and Kyvik, {Kirsten Ohm} and Lene Christiansen and Massimo Mangino and Spector, {Timothy D.} and Inge Petersen and Masayuki Kimura and Athanase Benetos and Carlos Labat and Ronit Sinnreich and Hwang, {Shih Jen} and Daniel Levy and Hunt, {Steven C.} and Fitzpatrick, {Annette L.} and Wei Chen and Berenson, {Gerald S.} and Michelangela Barbieri and Giuseppe Paolisso and Gadalla, {Shahinaz M.} and Savage, {Sharon A.} and Kaare Christensen and Yashin, {Anatoliy I.} and Arbeev, {Konstantin G.} and Abraham Aviv",

year = "2017",

doi = "10.18632/aging.101216",

language = "English (US)",

volume = "9",

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Steenstrup, T, Kark, JD, Verhulst, S, Thinggaard, M, Hjelmborg, JVB, Dalgård, C, Kyvik, KO, Christiansen, L, Mangino, M, Spector, TD, Petersen, I, Kimura, M, Benetos, A, Labat, C, Sinnreich, R, Hwang, SJ, Levy, D, Hunt, SC, Fitzpatrick, AL, Chen, W, Berenson, GS, Barbieri, M, Paolisso, G, Gadalla, SM, Savage, SA, Christensen, K, Yashin, AI, Arbeev, KG & Aviv, A 2017, 'Telomeres and the natural lifespan limit in humans', Aging, vol. 9, no. 4, pp. 1130-1142. https://doi.org/10.18632/aging.101216

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AU - Steenstrup, Troels

AU - Kark, Jeremy D.

AU - Verhulst, Simon

AU - Thinggaard, Mikael

AU - Hjelmborg, Jacob V.B.

AU - Dalgård, Christine

AU - Kyvik, Kirsten Ohm

AU - Christiansen, Lene

AU - Mangino, Massimo

AU - Spector, Timothy D.

AU - Petersen, Inge

AU - Kimura, Masayuki

AU - Benetos, Athanase

AU - Labat, Carlos

AU - Sinnreich, Ronit

AU - Hwang, Shih Jen

AU - Levy, Daniel

AU - Hunt, Steven C.

AU - Fitzpatrick, Annette L.

AU - Chen, Wei

AU - Berenson, Gerald S.

AU - Barbieri, Michelangela

AU - Paolisso, Giuseppe

AU - Gadalla, Shahinaz M.

AU - Savage, Sharon A.

AU - Christensen, Kaare

AU - Yashin, Anatoliy I.

AU - Arbeev, Konstantin G.

AU - Aviv, Abraham

PY - 2017

Y1 - 2017

N2 - An ongoing debate in demography has focused on whether the human lifespan has a maximal natural limit. Taking a mechanistic perspective, and knowing that short telomeres are associated with diminished longevity, we examined whether telomere length dynamics during adult life could set a maximal natural lifespan limit. We define leukocyte telomere length of 5 kb as the 'telomeric brink', which denotes a high risk of imminent death. We show that a subset of adults may reach the telomeric brink within the current life expectancy and more so for a 100-year life expectancy. Thus secular trends in life expectancy should confront a biological limit due to crossing the telomeric brink.

AB - An ongoing debate in demography has focused on whether the human lifespan has a maximal natural limit. Taking a mechanistic perspective, and knowing that short telomeres are associated with diminished longevity, we examined whether telomere length dynamics during adult life could set a maximal natural lifespan limit. We define leukocyte telomere length of 5 kb as the 'telomeric brink', which denotes a high risk of imminent death. We show that a subset of adults may reach the telomeric brink within the current life expectancy and more so for a 100-year life expectancy. Thus secular trends in life expectancy should confront a biological limit due to crossing the telomeric brink.

KW - Leukocytes

KW - Life-expectancy

KW - Longevity

KW - Maximal lifespan

KW - Sex

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SN - 1945-4589

VL - 9

SP - 1130

EP - 1142

JO - Aging

JF - Aging

IS - 4

ER -

Telomeres and the natural lifespan limit in humans

Abstract

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

Keywords

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