Cytomegalovirus infection reduces telomere length of the circulating T cell pool

PJEJ van de Berg, SJ Griffiths, SL Yong… - The Journal of …, 2010 - journals.aai.org
PJEJ van de Berg, SJ Griffiths, SL Yong, R Macaulay, FJ Bemelman, S Jackson, SM Henson…
The Journal of Immunology, 2010journals.aai.org
Short telomeres of circulating leukocytes are a risk factor for age-related diseases, such as
atherosclerosis, but the exact mechanisms generating variations in telomere length are
unknown. We hypothesized that induction of differentiated T cells during chronic CMV
infection would affect T cell telomere length. To test this, we measured the amount of
differentiated T cells and telomere length of lymphocytes during primary CMV infection as
well as CMV-seropositive and-seronegative healthy individuals. After primary CMV infection …
Abstract
Short telomeres of circulating leukocytes are a risk factor for age-related diseases, such as atherosclerosis, but the exact mechanisms generating variations in telomere length are unknown. We hypothesized that induction of differentiated T cells during chronic CMV infection would affect T cell telomere length. To test this, we measured the amount of differentiated T cells and telomere length of lymphocytes during primary CMV infection as well as CMV-seropositive and-seronegative healthy individuals. After primary CMV infection, we observed an increase in highly differentiated cells that coincided with a steep drop in telomere length. Moreover, we found in a cohort of 159 healthy individuals that telomere shortening was more rapid in CMV-seropositive individuals and correlated with the amount of differentiated T cells in both CD4+ T cells and CD8+ T cells. Finally, we found that telomere length measured in blood leukocytes is correlated with lymphocyte telomere length. Thus, CMV infection induces a strong decrease in T cell telomere length, which can be explained by changes in the composition of the circulating lymphocyte pool.
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