Telomere length dynamics over 10-years and related outcomes in patients with COPD

Respiratory Research

Table 1 Baseline clinical and lung function characteristics of COPD patients grouped by relative telomere length tertiles

Variable	Short T/S^d N = 87	Medium T/S^d N = 88	Long T/S^d N = 88	p-value
T/S ratio^a	0.40 ± 0.08	0.60 ± 0.05	0.92 ± 0.22	< 0.001
TL (bp)^a	5248 ± 855	7346 ± 535	10,757 ± 2371	< 0.001
Age^a	66 ± 9	64 ± 9	61 ± 10	0.005
Sex (male %)	76	80	66	0.104
BMI^a	28 ± 6	28 ± 5	26 ± 5	0.068
Smoking habit (pack-year)^a,c	69 ± 30	65 ± 26	58 ± 24	0.023
Active smoking (%)	43	43	40	0.888
FEV₁ (L)^a	1.49 ± 0.64	1.60 ± 0.65	1.46 ± 0.66	0.326
FEV₁ (% pred)^a	58 ± 21	59 ± 20	55 ± 23	0.544
FVC (% pred)^a	87 ± 21	90 ± 23	85 ± 23	0.348
FEV₁/FVC (% pred)^a	52 ± 13	51 ± 11	51 ± 13	0.930
PaO₂^a	71 ± 12	73 ± 11	71 ± 12	0.605
K_CO^a	79 ± 27	77 ± 24	69 ± 26	0.059
ICTLC (%)^a	35 ± 8	35 ± 8	34 ± 10	0.875
6MWD (mts)^a	477 ± 94	486 ± 102	480 ± 105	0.824
mMRC dysnea^b	1 (0–2)	1 (0–2)	1 (0–2)	0.210
BODE index^b	1 (0–2)	1 (0–3)	1 (0–3)	0.223
Charlson index^b	0 (0–1)	0 (0–1)	0 (0–1)	0.769
Exacerbations^b	0 (0–1)	1 (0–2)	0 (0–1)	0.146

T/S ratio relative telomere length, TL telomere length, BMI body mass index, FEV₁ forced expiratory volume in 1 s, FVC forced vital capacity, % pred per cent predicted, PaO₂ partial oxygen tension, K_CO transfer factor coefficient of the lung for carbon monoxide, which is DL_CO, IC/TLC inspiratory capacity to total lung capacity ratio, 6MWD 6 min walking distance test. p-values < 0.05 are shown in italics
^aData are presented as mean ± SD
^bData are presented as median (25th–75th pc)
^cNumber of packs of cigarettes smoked per day × number of years smoking
^dGroups defined by relative telomere length (T/S) tertiles: < 0.52, 0.52–0.71 and > 0.71

ISSN: 1465-993X