Association of Newborn Telomere Length With Blood Pressure in Childhood

Martens, Dries S.; Sleurs, Hanne; Dockx, Yinthe; Rasking, Leen; Plusquin, Michelle; Nawrot, Tim S.

doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2022.25521

Cited by 14 publications

(9 citation statements)

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“…5). In this context we recently demonstrated that telomere length at birth was significantly related to childhood diastolic blood pressure at the age of four [98]. Despite the lack of studies in many fields of age-related health measures, the fact that metabolic outcomes are related to all four cord blood aging biomarkers (Fig.…”

Section: Clinical Relevancementioning

confidence: 95%

Interrelationships and determinants of aging biomarkers in cord blood

et al. 2022

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Background Increasing evidence supports the concept of prenatal programming as an early factor in the aging process. DNA methylation age (DNAm age), global genome-wide DNA methylation (global methylation), telomere length (TL), and mitochondrial DNA content (mtDNA content) have independently been shown to be markers of aging, but their interrelationship and determinants at birth remain uncertain. Methods We assessed the inter-correlation between the aging biomarkers DNAm age, global methylation, TL and mtDNA content using Pearson's correlation in 190 cord blood samples of the ENVIRONAGE birth cohort. TL and mtDNA content was measured via qPCR, while the DNA methylome was determined using the human 450K methylation Illumina microarray. Subsequently, DNAm age was calculated according to Horvath's epigenetic clock, and mean global, promoter, gene-body, and intergenic DNA methylation were determined. Path analysis, a form of structural equation modeling, was performed to disentangle the complex causal relationships among the aging biomarkers and their potential determinants. Results DNAm age was inversely correlated with global methylation (r = -0.64, p < 0.001) and mtDNA content (r = − 0.16, p = 0.027). Cord blood TL was correlated with mtDNA content (r = 0.26, p < 0.001) but not with global methylation or DNAm age. Path analysis showed the strongest effect for global methylation on DNAm age with a decrease of 0.64 standard deviations (SD) in DNAm age for each SD (0.01%) increase in global methylation (p < 0.001). Among the applied covariates, newborn sex and season of delivery were the strongest determinants of aging biomarkers. Conclusions We provide insight into molecular aging signatures at the start of life, including their interrelations and determinants, showing that cord blood DNAm age is inversely associated with global methylation and mtDNA content but not with newborn telomere length. Our findings demonstrate that cord blood TL and DNAm age relate to different pathways/mechanisms of biological aging and can be influenced by environmental factors already at the start of life. These findings are relevant for understanding fetal programming and for the early prevention of noncommunicable diseases. Graphical Abstract

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Section: Clinical Relevancementioning

confidence: 95%

Interrelationships and determinants of aging biomarkers in cord blood

et al. 2022

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“…In the study of Martens DS et al ( 117 ), the telomere length of newborns has a high predictive value to the telomere length of their later years. In the study of Martens DS et al ( 118 ), it was found that the blood pressure of early school-age children was related to the length of telomere at birth. However, telomere length in childhood is also affected by other factors: Exposure to environmental pollution in early life is closely related to telomere wear ( 104 , 119 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Telomere dysfunction in some pediatric congenital and growth-related diseases

Zheng

2023

Front. Pediatr.

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Telomere wear and dysfunction may lead to aging-related diseases. Moreover, increasing evidence show that the occurrence, development, and prognosis of some pediatric diseases are also related to telomere dysfunction. In this review, we systematically analyzed the relationship between telomere biology and some pediatric congenital and growth-related diseases and proposed new theoretical basis and therapeutic targets for the treatment of these diseases.

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“…Although there are several studies linking PM 2.5 exposure with adverse birth outcomes, the specific mechanisms through which differences in markers of the axis of aging upon PM 2.5 exposure affects health and disease later in life should be further investigated. Nevertheless, recent research has shown that telomere length at birth is associated with lean mass early in life (de Zegher, 2017) and cardiovascular changes in childhood (Kaali, 2021;Martens, 2022).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%