人外周血白细胞端粒DNA长度与年龄的定量关系

The quantificational relationship between the length of telomere DNA and age in peripheral blood leukocytes

目的探讨人外周血白细胞端粒DNA长度变化规律及其与年龄的关系,为法医学推断年龄提供理论依据。方法抽取西藏那曲地区0-81岁健康人外周血样本105例,其中男性53例,女性52例,采用Southern杂交法检测其端粒限制性片断平均长度。各年龄组性别差异作t检验,端粒长度与年龄的关系作相关及回归分析。结果人外周血白细胞端粒长度随年龄增长逐渐缩短,且存在性别差异;得到推断年龄回归方程：Y=-16.539X＋236.287±9.832。结论人外周血白细胞端粒DNA长度与年龄存在明显相关性,为法医学在分子水平上推断个体年龄提供了可能。

Objective To investigate the relationship between the length of telomere DNA and age and provide evidence for age estimation in forensic medicine. Methods 105 peripheral blood samples were collected from healthy individuals of different ages, ranged from 0 to 81 years old, and the terminal restriction fragment （TRF） length was measured by Southern blot analysis. The difference of average TRF length among different groups was analyzed using One-Way ANOVA. The correlation of the TRF length and age was analyzed by linear regression. Results The telomere DNA length shortened with aging, which presented gender difference. The formula for age estimation based on telomere shortening was Y = -16.539X ＋ 236.287 ±9. 832. Conclusion There was inverse correlation between the length of telomere DNA and age. The results indicate that this correlation can be used to infer the individual age.