Age-associated ALU element instability in white blood cells Is linked to lower survival in elderly adults: a preliminary cohort study
Background: ALU element instability could contribute to gene function variance in aging, and may partly explain variation in human lifespan. Objective: To assess the role of ALU element instability in human aging and the potential efficacy of ALU element content as a marker of biological aging and survival. Design: Preliminary cohort study. Methods: We measured two high frequency ALU element subfamilies, ALU-J and ALU-Sx, by a single qPCR assay and compared ALU-J/Sx content in white blood cell (WBCs) and skeletal muscle cell (SMCs) biopsies from twenty-three elderly adults with sixteen healthy sex-balanced young adults; all-cause survival rates of elderly adults predicted by ALU-J/Sx content in both tissues; and cardiovascular disease (CVD)- and cancer-specific survival rates of elderly adults predicted by ALU-J/Sx content in both tissues, as planned subgroup analyses. Results: We found greater ALU-J/Sx content variance in WBCs from elderly adults than young adults (P