April 26, 2026Journal of the American College of Cardiology
Telomere Length of Circulating Leukocytes Is Decreased in Patients With Chronic Heart Failure
Key result
Chronic heart failure is linked to ~39% shorter leukocyte telomere length vs healthy controls.
- P<0.001
- n=803
Why the study?
Chronic heart failure might be associated with accelerated biological aging, but it was unclear if patients with CHF have shorter telomeres compared with age- and gender-balanced healthy individuals.
Is chronic heart failure associated with shorter leukocyte telomere length compared to healthy individuals?
Population
803 participants aged 40 to 80 years including 620 CHF patients and 183 healthy controls
Comparison
CHF patients vs age-balanced and gender-balanced healthy individuals
Design
Prospective case-control study
Authors
Discussion
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Implication
No current role for telomere assessment in HF care; leaves open its value as causal factor or prognostic biomarker.
Key Points
- To determine whether circulating leukocyte telomere length is reduced in patients with chronic heart failure compared with age- and gender-matched healthy individuals.
- Conducted a case-control study of 803 participants aged 40 to 80 years, including 620 chronic heart failure patients (NYHA class II–IV, LVEF ≤0.40) and 183 healthy controls.
- Measured leukocyte telomere length ratios prospectively using a quantitative polymerase chain reaction-based assay.
- Median telomere length ratio was significantly shorter in chronic heart failure patients at 0.64 (IQR 0.47 to 0.88) compared with 1.05 (IQR 0.86 to 1.29) in controls (p < 0.001).
- Telomere length decreased with disease severity across NYHA classes II, III, and IV, with median ratios of 0.67, 0.63, and 0.55, respectively (p for trend <0.05).
- Patients with 0, 1, 2, or 3 atherosclerotic manifestations exhibited progressively shorter median telomere ratios of 0.72, 0.65, 0.48, and 0.43, respectively (p for trend <0.001).
Study Design
Type
Case-Control (n=803)
Structured PICO
Is chronic heart failure associated with shorter leukocyte telomere length compared to healthy individuals?
P
Population
803 participants aged 40 to 80 years, including 620 patients with chronic heart failure (NYHA class II-IV, LVEF ≤0.40) and 183 healthy controls.
C
Comparator
183 age-balanced and gender-balanced healthy individuals
O
Outcome
Telomere length ratio of circulating leukocytessurrogate
Main Result
Absolute Event Rate: 0.64% vs 1.05%
p-value: p=<0.001
Leukocyte telomere length is significantly reduced in patients with chronic heart failure and correlates with disease severity and atherosclerotic burden, suggesting a link with accelerated biological aging.
Cite This Study
Harst et al. (2007) conducted a case-control in Chronic heart failure (n=803). Chronic heart failure vs. Healthy individuals was evaluated on Telomere length ratio of leukocytes (p=<0.001). Chronic heart failure was associated with a significantly shorter median leukocyte telomere length ratio compared with healthy controls (0.64 vs 1.05; p<0.001).