TERT and Down syndrome: Furthermore, age-dependent telomere shortening in individuals with 5p– syndrome and a concomitant TERT gene deletion seemed to be accelerated compared to normal controls (r = –0.09, P = 0.0046 vs. r = –0.07, P < 0.001), but this did not reach statistical significance due to the low number of older individuals with 5p– syndrome and the wide distribution of telomere lengths [95% confidence interval (CI): –0.15 to –0.03 vs. –0.09 to –0.05].