AUTHOR=Wang Yuqing , Jiao Fengjuan , Zheng Huancheng , Kong Qingsheng , Li Ran , Zhang Xiaojie , Yan Li , Hao Yanlei , Wu Yili 

TITLE=Gender Difference in Associations Between Telomere Length and Risk Factors in Patients With Stroke

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience

VOLUME=Volume 13 - 2021

YEAR=2021

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/aging-neuroscience/articles/10.3389/fnagi.2021.719538

DOI=10.3389/fnagi.2021.719538

ISSN=1663-4365

ABSTRACT=Multiple risk factors of stroke are associated with telomere length shortening. Although studies indicate that Leukocyte Telomere Length (LTL) is shorter in patients with stroke, the heterogeneity is high. Risk factors may be differentially associated with LTL in males and females contributing to the heterogeneity. However, gender difference in associations between LTL and risk factors in patients with stroke has not been investigated. We aimed to investigate the gender difference in associations between LTL and risk factors in stroke patients. 312 stroke patients were included. Real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction was used to determine relative LTL and stepwise regression analysis was applied for association analyses. We found that LTL was negatively associated with triglyceride (TG) in all patient (β(95%CI) =-0.69 (-1.26, -0.11), P<0.05) after adjusting confounders. Importantly, LTL was negatively associated with lack of exercises (β(95%CI) =-1.80 (-3.12, -0.49), P<0.05) and LDL levels (β(95%CI) =-3.22 (-6.05, -0.390), P<0.05) in male patients, while LTL was negatively associated with dyssomnia (β(95%CI) =-2.00 (-3.96, -0.07), P<0.05) and diabetes (β(95%CI) =-2.13 (-4.10, -0.27), P<0.01) in female patients. Our study showed that LTL is differently associated with risk factors in male and female patients with stroke, respectively, indicating gender difference should be considered when LTL is potentially applied as an index of risk and prognosis for stroke. Our study also provides an insight into that gender difference should be considered when developing intervention strategies for stroke prevention and treatment.