Relative telomere length (TL) is regarded as a biomarker of biological age. Accelerated immune aging, as represented by TL reduction, has been demonstrated in autoimmune diseases, including multiple sclerosis (MS). However, it is still unresolved whether telomere shortening is the cause or the consequence of the pathogenic events underlying autoimmunity. Assessing TL in whole blood DNA samples in 138 MS patients and 120 healthy controls showed reduced TL in patients as compared with controls There seems to be a prelude of accelerated telomere shortening, which may increase the risk for development of MS.

中文翻译：

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较短的白细胞端粒与多发性硬化症之间的关联

相对端粒长度（TL）被认为是生物年龄的生物标志物。以 TL 减少为代表的加速免疫老化已在自身免疫性疾病中得到证实，包括多发性硬化症 (MS)。然而，端粒缩短是自身免疫病致病事件的起因还是结果仍未解决。评估 138 名 MS 患者和 120 名健康对照的全血 DNA 样本中的 TL 显示，与对照相比，患者的 TL 降低 端粒缩短加速似乎是前奏，这可能会增加发生 MS 的风险。