Lung fibrosis, bone marrow fibrosis and liver cirrhosis: A Short Telomere Syndrome or a casual association?

Abstract

Background: Telomere-mediated disease has diverse presentations that span the age spectrum. Their type, age of onset, and severity depend on the extent of the telomere length defect. During adult life, telomerase mutations may represent risk factors rather than genetic determinants and need other factors to contribute to disease development. This is case of diseases such as aplastic anemia, pulmonary fibrosis and liver cirrhosis which may occur as single disease or together in a syndromic clustering. Here we report a case of a man most likely affected by a short telomere syndrome.

Case report: A 58 years old man, presented for evaluation of pulmonary fibrosis diagnosed few years earlier in a different medical center. He also presented a mild bone marrow fibrosis and a liver cirrhosis, both diagnosed one year prior evaluation with a bone marrow analysis and liver biopsy. The patient was an active smoker, obese, with digital clubbing and inspiratory Velcro crackles at the right lower lobe. Laboratory tests showed thrombocytopenia and liver enzymes alteration. He rapidly developed ascites and progression of the pulmonary fibrosis, the patient became oxygen-dependent in few months.

Methods: Sequencing and mutation analysis of hTERT and hTERC genes, Leukocyte Telomere length (LTL) and Telomerase activity (TA) were evaluated.

Results: In our patient LTL was shorter and TA reduced compared to the controls. Genes sequencing did not show any hTERT and hTERC mutations.

Conclusions: This is a report on a short telomere syndrome involving lung, liver and bone marrow, associated to very short telomere and absent telomerase activity not in the setting of dyskeratosis congenita.The fact that short telomeres mediate inflammation and fibrosis provides a rationale for pursuing translational strategies aimed at preventing telomere shortening or its cellular consequences as a therapeutic approach.