Effect of Long-Term HT on Telomere Length Table 1. Clinical Characteristics of Study Subjects Characteristics HT Group (N=65) non-HT Group (N=65) p-value Age (yrs) 60.1 ± 3.5 60.3 ± 4.4 0.83 Age at menopause (yrs) 49.5 ± 4.0 50.1 ± 3.7 0.39 BMI (Kg/m2) 23.1 ± 2.4 24.3 ± 2.6 < 0.05 Systolic BP§ (mmHg) 124.3 ± 12.4 127.4 ± 12.5 0.17 Diastolic BP (mmHg) 73.6 ± 8.9 74.9 ± 7.9 0.37 Smoking N (%) 1 (1.54) 1 (1.54) 1.00 Alcohol N (%) 17 (13.1) 9 (6.92) 0.08 Exercise¶ N (%) 43 (33.1) 29 (22.3) < 0.01 Vitamin intake** N (%) 42 (32.3) 27 (20.1) < 0.01 Fasting blood glucose (mg/dl) 83.8 ± 10.7 95.8 ± 7.6 < 0.0001 Cholesterol (mg/dl) 195.0 ± 41.7 198.7 ± 26.0 0.55 Triglyceride (mg/dl) 111.4 ± 52.1 129.4 ± 70.5 0.10 HDL-cholesterol (mg/dl) 61.5 ± 13.4 51.8 ± 9.2 < 0.0001 LDL-cholesterol (mg/dl) 111.2 ± 38.6 121.0 ± 24.2 0.09 TAS (mmol/L) 1.33 ± 0.09 1.32 ± 0.10 0.65 Hs-CRP (mg/L) 0.17 ± 0.59 0.07 ± 0.15 0.19 Estradiol (pg/L) 35.6 ± 35.5 10.6 ± 7.1 < 0.0001 Data are shown as mean ± standard deviation or number (%). 2 p-values are calculated by t-test or  . Postmenopausal women with hormone therapy including estrogen (conjugated equine estrogen 0.625 mg or estradiol 2 mg) plus progesterone for more than five years. §BPloosotdmepnroepssauursea.l women without hormone therapy after menopause. Alcohol ingestion 1 time a week. ¶Doing regular exercise three times a week. **Daily use of more than one vitamin including vitamin C, vitamin E, or multivitamins. Total plasma antioxidant status. High sensitivity C-reactive protein. Table 2. Quantitative PCR Threshold cycles* (CT) of Postmenopausal Women with or without HT HT Group (N=65) non-HT Group (N=65) p-value CT (telomere)§ 23.6 ± 1.01 24.1 ± 1.17 < 0.05 CT (β globulin) 31.5 ± 0.72 31.4 ± 0.66 0.41 ΔCT¶ -7.92 ± 0.99 -7.40 ± 1.33 < 0.01 Data are shown as mean ± standard deviation. p-values are calculated by t-test. *PCR cycle numbers at which a statistically significant increase in the emission intensity of the reporter dye was first detected. Hormone therapy with estrogen (conjugated equine estrogen 0.625 mg or estradiol 2 mg) plus progesterone for more than five years. Postmenopausal women without hormone therapy after menopause. § CT value of telomere. ¶ΔCCTT=v{aCluT(eteol ofmβergel)o-bCuT(lβin.globulin)}. linear regression analysis was performed. This was done to determine the association of relative T/S ratios and long-term estrogen replacement after adjusting for potential confounding vari- ables. Log2 values of study subjects' relative T/S ratios (ΔΔ CT) were used in the analysis to ac- count for the skewed distribution. Adjusted re- gression coefficients for Log2 values of relative T/ Yonsei Med J Vol. 46, No. 4, 2005