Leukocyte telomere length and telomerase activity in Long COVID patients from Rio de Janeiro, Brazi, 2025, Gonçalves dos Reis et al

Leukocyte telomere length and telomerase activity in Long COVID patients from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Giane Gonçalves dos Reis, Rafaele Tavares Silvestre, Gilda Alves, Lucas Delmonico, Mariana Chantre-Justino, Aline dos Santos Moreira, Beatriz de Lima Alessio Müller, Carolina Ramos do Nascimento, Denzel Luis Pereira da Silva, Louisy Sanches dos Santos, Ana Luíza de Mattos-Guaraldi, Maria Helena Ornellas

Background
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is caused by the new coronavirus 2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 - SARS-CoV-2). Long COVID is a new condition associated with persistent COVID-19 symptoms and/or new emerging symptoms. Telomeres are specialised structures for genome protection at the end of chromosomes and telomerase is the enzyme that synthesises telomere DNA.

Objectives
Patients with Long COVID symptoms were recruited at the Pedro Ernesto University Hospital (HUPE) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with the main purpose of investigating the association between telomere length and Long COVID.

Methods
Leukocyte telomere length (LTL) was determined by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) in 34 Long COVID patients compared to a control group (n = 122). Telomerase activity was determined by qPCR assays using the commercial kit from ScienCell. A questionnaire on symptoms, vaccine doses and blood count was completed.

Findings
The Long COVID patients were found to have an increase in LTL. Telomerase activity was also examined in a smaller number of patients and found to be reactivated in the blood.

Main Conclusions
It will be necessary to conduct further studies and monitor Long COVID patients to determine if future health issues could be linked to telomerase activity and elongated telomeres.

Link | PDF (Memórias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz) [Open Access]

 

Other telomere studies:

S4ME thread: Exploring DNA methylation, telomere length, mitochondrial DNA, and immune function in patients with Long-COVID (2025, BMC Medicine)

Evidence for Biological Age Acceleration and Telomere Shortening in COVID-19 Survivors (2021, Int. J. Mol. Sci.)

S4ME thread: Association of chronic fatigue syndrome with premature telomere attrition (2018, Journal of Translational Medicine)