Continuous reference intervals for leukocyte telomere length in children: the method matters
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Analia Lesmana
, Ngaire Elwood
Abstract
Objectives
Children with very short telomeres commonly develop bone marrow failure and other severe diseases. Identifying the individuals with short telomeres can improve outcome of bone marrow transplantation, with accurate diagnosis requiring the use of age-matched reference intervals (RIs). This study aimed to establish RIs for telomere length (TL) in children using three commonly used methods for TL measurement.
Methods
Healthy children aged 30 days to 18 years were recruited for assessment using age as a continuous variable. Venous blood samples were collected and leukocyte TL was measured using terminal restriction fragment (TRF) analysis, quantitative PCR (QPCR) and flow cytometry with fluorescence in situ hybridization (Flow-FISH). Fractional polynomial model and quantile regression were performed to generate continuous RIs. Factors that might contribute to variation in TL, such as gender, were also examined.
Results
A total of 212 samples were analyzed. Continuous RIs are presented as functions of age. TRF analysis and QPCR showed significant negative correlation between TL and age (r=−0.28 and r=−0.38, p<0.001). In contrast, Flow-FISH showed no change in TL with age (r=−0.08, p=0.23). Gender did not have significant influence on TL in children.
Conclusions
This study provides three options to assess TL in children by establishing method-specific continuous RIs. Choosing which method to use will depend on several factors such as amount and type of sample available and required sensitivity to age-related change.
Funding source: Royal Children’s Hospital Foundation
Award Identifier / Grant number: 2017-923
Acknowledgments
The authors thank staff of the Pathology Collection Department at The Royal Children’s Hospital for obtaining the consent of participants and the collection of samples. The authors thank staff of the Anaesthetic and Surgical Departments at the Royal Children’s Hospital.
Research funding: This work was supported by grants from Royal Children’s Hospital Foundation [2017-923]. The funding organization played no role in the study design; in the collection, analysis and interpretation of data; in the writing of the report; or in the decision to submit the report for publication.
Author contributions: A.L. processed samples, performed research and wrote the manuscript. P.T. established methods, analyzed data and contributed to writing the manuscript. V.K. wrote the study protocol, obtained ethics approval for the study, reviewed the manuscript and is the coordinator of the study. S.H. performed statistical analysis and provided support on statistical analysis and reviewed the manuscript. V.I. contributed to the design of the study and was a major contributor in writing the manuscript. P.M. conceived the study and contributed to the design of the study and was a major contributor in writing the manuscript. N.E. conceived the study and contributed to the design of the study and was a major contributor in writing the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript. All authors have accepted responsibility for the entire content of this manuscript and approved its submission.
Competing interests: Authors state no conflict of interest.
Informed consent: Informed consent was obtained from parents or guardians of children who met study inclusion criteria.
Ethical approval: The research related to human use has complied with all the relevant national regulations, institutional policies and in accordance with the tenets of the Helsinki Declaration. The study protocol has been approved by The Royal Children’s Hospital, Melbourne, Ethics in Human Research Committee (34183 A).
Data sharing statement: Available data can be obtained by contacting the corresponding author.
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Supplementary Material
The online version of this article offers supplementary material (https://doi.org/10.1515/cclm-2021-0059).
© 2021 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
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Artikel in diesem Heft
- Frontmatter
- Editorial
- Machine learning and coagulation testing: the next big thing in hemostasis investigations?
- Reviews
- Updates on liquid biopsy: current trends and future perspectives for clinical application in solid tumors
- The underestimated issue of non-reproducible cardiac troponin I and T results: case series and systematic review of the literature
- Opinion Paper
- Benefits, limitations and controversies on patient-based real-time quality control (PBRTQC) and the evidence behind the practice
- Genetics and Molecular Diagnostics
- ctDNA from body fluids is an adequate source for EGFR biomarker testing in advanced lung adenocarcinoma
- General Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine
- Incidence, characteristics and outcomes among inpatient, outpatient and emergency department with reported high critical serum potassium values
- Clinical usefulness of drug-laboratory test interaction alerts: a multicentre survey
- Integrating quality assurance in autoimmunity: the changing face of the automated ANA IIF test
- Plasma thiol/disulphide homeostasis changes in patients with restless legs syndrome
- Reference Values and Biological Variations
- High-resolution pediatric reference intervals for 15 biochemical analytes described using fractional polynomials
- Continuous reference intervals for leukocyte telomere length in children: the method matters
- Hematology and Coagulation
- Using machine learning to identify clotted specimens in coagulation testing
- Cardiovascular Diseases
- Long term pronostic value of suPAR in chronic heart failure: reclassification of patients with low MAGGIC score
- Infectious Diseases
- Monocyte distribution width (MDW) parameter as a sepsis indicator in intensive care units
- A low level of CD16pos monocytes in SARS-CoV-2 infected patients is a marker of severity
- Thrombin generation in patients with COVID-19 with and without thromboprophylaxis
- Corrigendum
- Applying the concept of uncertainty to the sFlt-1/PlGF cut-offs for diagnosis and prognosis of preeclampsia
- Letters to the Editors
- Additional approaches for identifying non-reproducible cardiac troponin results
- Paediatric reference intervals for ionised calcium – a data mining approach
- A case of interference in testosterone, DHEA-S and progesterone measurements by second generation immunoassays
- Lack of cross-reactivity between anti-A IgG isoagglutinins and anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibodies
- Artefactual bands on urine protein immunofixation gels
- A case of methaemoglobinaemia interference on the WDF channel on Sysmex XN-Series analysers
- Soluble fms-like tyrosine kinase-1: a potential early predictor of respiratory failure in COVID-19 patients
- Serendipitous detection of α1-antitrypsin deficiency: a single institution’s experience over a 32 month period
- The activated partial thromboplastin time may not reveal even severe fibrinogen deficiency
- Influence of C-reactive protein on thrombin generation assay
- Inappropriate extrapolations abound in fecal microbiota research