Arsenic exposure, telomere length, and expression of telomere-related genes among Bangladeshi individuals

Inorganic arsenic is a carcinogen whose mode of action may involve telomere dysfunction. Recent epidemiological studies suggest that chronic arsenic exposure is associated with longer telomeres and altered expression of telomere-related genes in peripheral blood. In this study, we evaluated the association of urinary arsenic concentration with expression of telomere-related genes and telomere length in Bangladeshi individuals with a wide range of arsenic exposure through naturally contaminated drinking water. We used linear regression models to estimate associations between urinary arsenic and array-based expression measures for 69 telomere related genes using mononuclear cell RNA samples from 1799 individuals. Association between arsenic exposure and a qPCR-based telomere length measure was assessed among 167 individuals. Urinary arsenic was possitively associated with expression of WRN, and negatively associated with TERF2, DKC1, TERF2IP and OBFC1 (all P