[The relationship between the relative length of leukocyte telomeres and mtDNA copy number and acute coronary syndrome in a 15-year follow-up.].

to study the association of relative leukocyte DNA telomere length with death from natural causes during a 15-year follow-up in a middle-aged and elderly Siberian population. Study of the association of the relative length of leukocyte telomeres (LTL) with fatal outcomes during a 15-year follow-up of a random population sample formed in 2003-2005 (n=9 360, 45-69 years old, Novosibirsk, HAPIEE project). The main group included the persons died from natural causes (except external) without a previous history of CVD and cancer (n=609); controls were stratified by sex and age (n=799). The analysis of relative LTL at baseline was performed using quantitative real-time PCR. We estimated the odds ratio of all-cause death per 1 decile shortening of LTD as a continuous variable in a multivariable-adjusted logistic regression. The carriers of shorter telomere carriers had an increased risk of death from natural causes over the next 15 years (OR=1,37, 95% CI 1,31-1,44) per decile of LTL decrease, regardless of other factors. The risk coefficients were similar for death from CVD (1,39), cancer (1,42), and other non-external causes (1,51). In studied middle-aged and elderly Siberian (Caucasoid) population cohort the LTL was an independent inverse predictor of the 15-year risk of death from natural causes.