Different Doses Rosuvastatin Effect on Telomere-telomerase System in Acute Coronary Syndrome Patients After Percutaneous Coronary INtervention: RETAIN Study

Coronary heart disease (CHD) is identified as one of the diseases characterised by biological aging as one of the important risk factors in several epidemiological studies. Premature biological aging is distinct from chronological aging and may predispose the individual to myocardial infarction, atherosclerosis and CHD in particular. The mean telomere length and telomerase activity serve as markers for the biological age at the cellular level, with shorter telomeres and lower telomerase activity defining the increased biological age. Telomere length and telomerase activity, therefore, correlates with the risk of CHD and atherosclerosis. Statins serve as the drugs of obvious choice based on their well established efficacy and safety profiles for the treatment of CHD and associated atherosclerosis. A present clinical study states that the treatment with a statin is associated with a reduction in the number of clinical events but only in individuals with increased risk based on their telomere length. This suggests a positive relationship of telomere and telomerase system with the risk of CHD and, therefore, would help clinicians to categorise the patient populations based on their leucocyte telomere length for treatment with statins.