Association Between Telomere Shortening and Ageing During Occupational Exposure

Telomere length is considered as a biomarker of ageing, resulting in shortening during the process. The present investigation was an attempt to determine the relative telomere length in mechanical workshop workers. Telomere length shortening in cells during occupational exposure causes accelerated ageing. Genomic DNA was isolated from buccal epithelial cells collected from 240 individuals, comprising two groups of 120 exposed workers and 120 unexposed controls. Telomere length was measured by using real time PCR. Both telomere (T) and single copy gene (S) specific primers were used to compute the relative T/S ratio and expressed as the relative telomere length. Telomere length differed significantly between the workers and controls (p