What do telomeres have to do with it?

Telomere Design

Telomeres are the end part of the chromosomes that serve to protect the DNA just like shoelace tips prevent a shoelace from unraveling. When telomeres shorten to a critical length, the cell stops dividing and either becomes senescent or undergoes apoptosis

Telomere shortening has been discovered to be the primary cause of human aging. Short telomeres have been associated with almost all age related chronic diseases.

Primary Iron Overload (IO)

Some of the many diseases associated with iron overload/high ferritin levels.

Cancer

Hemochromotosis

Fatty Liver Disease

Rheumatoid Arthritis

.

Acute Infections

Anorexia

Chronic Kidney Disease

Anemia of Chronic Disease

Type 2 Diabetes

Inflammatory Conditions

Alzheimer’s disease

Metabolic Syndrome

Autoimmune Disorders

Graves’ Disease

Arrhythmias

Atherosclerosis

THE iron overload –

telomere connection

Telomere Length in Healthy Controls vs. Iron Overload patients

This study is the first to show that Iron Overload patients who underwent successful treatment aimed at reducing body iron levels and, therefore, systemic oxidative stress, present ATL values statistically similar to those of healthy controls.

Telomere shortening > Telomere Regulation

Due to the end replication problem, telomere shortening occurs in stem cell differentiation and aging.

Treatment with Telomir-1 may elongate telomeres to sustain self-renewal.

Mouse study

Dosing Day 1

Dosing Day 10

The case for Hemochromatosis

The Disease

Hereditary Hemochromatosis (HH) is a primary iron overload (IO) condition. Ferritin is an intracellular iron storage protein that is abundant in systemic circulation. It is the reactivity of the copper that causes ferritin to leak iron in breast cancer patients.

Prevalence

Prevalence of hereditary hemochromatosis in the United States is 1 case in 200-500 individuals.

The NIH has listed Hemochromatosis on the Genetic and Rare Diseases (GARD) Information Center Website

GARD is a public health program of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) that provides health information about rare diseases for the public.

There are no FDA approved drugs to treat Hemochromatosis