Leukocyte Telomere Length in Young Adults Born Preterm: Support for Accelerated Biological Ageing.

<h4>Background</h4>Subjects born preterm have an increased risk for age-associated diseases, such as cardiovascular disease in later life, but the underlying causes are largely unknown. Shorter leukocyte telomere length (LTL), a marker of biological age, is associated with increased risk...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Carolina C J Smeets, Veryan Codd, Nilesh J Samani, Anita C S Hokken-Koelega
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2015-01-01
Series:PLoS ONE
Online Access:https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0143951&type=printable
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1849331950516436992
author Carolina C J Smeets
Veryan Codd
Nilesh J Samani
Anita C S Hokken-Koelega
author_facet Carolina C J Smeets
Veryan Codd
Nilesh J Samani
Anita C S Hokken-Koelega
author_sort Carolina C J Smeets
collection DOAJ
description <h4>Background</h4>Subjects born preterm have an increased risk for age-associated diseases, such as cardiovascular disease in later life, but the underlying causes are largely unknown. Shorter leukocyte telomere length (LTL), a marker of biological age, is associated with increased risk of cardiovascular disease.<h4>Objectives</h4>To compare LTL between subjects born preterm and at term and to assess if LTL is associated with other putative cardiovascular risk factors at young adult age.<h4>Methods</h4>We measured mean LTL in 470 young adults. LTL was measured using a quantitative PCR assay and expressed as T/S ratio. We analyzed the influence of gestational age on LTL and compared LTL between subjects born preterm (n = 186) and at term (n = 284). Additionally, we analyzed the correlation between LTL and potential risk factors of cardiovascular disease.<h4>Results</h4>Gestational age was positively associated with LTL (r = 0.11, p = 0.02). Subjects born preterm had shorter LTL (mean (SD) T/S ratio = 3.12 (0.44)) than subjects born at term (mean (SD) T/S ratio = 3.25 (0.46)), p = 0.003). The difference remained significant after adjustment for gender and size at birth (p = 0.001). There was no association of LTL with any one of the putative risk factors analyzed.<h4>Conclusions</h4>Young adults born preterm have shorter LTL than young adults born at term. Although we found no correlation between LTL and risk for CVD at this young adult age, this biological ageing indicator may contribute to CVD and other adult onset diseases at a later age in those born preterm.
format Article
id doaj-art-264a662a0aec4af8b32d30ef7f3df573
institution Kabale University
issn 1932-6203
language English
publishDate 2015-01-01
publisher Public Library of Science (PLoS)
record_format Article
series PLoS ONE
spelling doaj-art-264a662a0aec4af8b32d30ef7f3df5732025-08-20T03:46:21ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032015-01-011011e014395110.1371/journal.pone.0143951Leukocyte Telomere Length in Young Adults Born Preterm: Support for Accelerated Biological Ageing.Carolina C J SmeetsVeryan CoddNilesh J SamaniAnita C S Hokken-Koelega<h4>Background</h4>Subjects born preterm have an increased risk for age-associated diseases, such as cardiovascular disease in later life, but the underlying causes are largely unknown. Shorter leukocyte telomere length (LTL), a marker of biological age, is associated with increased risk of cardiovascular disease.<h4>Objectives</h4>To compare LTL between subjects born preterm and at term and to assess if LTL is associated with other putative cardiovascular risk factors at young adult age.<h4>Methods</h4>We measured mean LTL in 470 young adults. LTL was measured using a quantitative PCR assay and expressed as T/S ratio. We analyzed the influence of gestational age on LTL and compared LTL between subjects born preterm (n = 186) and at term (n = 284). Additionally, we analyzed the correlation between LTL and potential risk factors of cardiovascular disease.<h4>Results</h4>Gestational age was positively associated with LTL (r = 0.11, p = 0.02). Subjects born preterm had shorter LTL (mean (SD) T/S ratio = 3.12 (0.44)) than subjects born at term (mean (SD) T/S ratio = 3.25 (0.46)), p = 0.003). The difference remained significant after adjustment for gender and size at birth (p = 0.001). There was no association of LTL with any one of the putative risk factors analyzed.<h4>Conclusions</h4>Young adults born preterm have shorter LTL than young adults born at term. Although we found no correlation between LTL and risk for CVD at this young adult age, this biological ageing indicator may contribute to CVD and other adult onset diseases at a later age in those born preterm.https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0143951&type=printable
spellingShingle Carolina C J Smeets
Veryan Codd
Nilesh J Samani
Anita C S Hokken-Koelega
Leukocyte Telomere Length in Young Adults Born Preterm: Support for Accelerated Biological Ageing.
PLoS ONE
title Leukocyte Telomere Length in Young Adults Born Preterm: Support for Accelerated Biological Ageing.
title_full Leukocyte Telomere Length in Young Adults Born Preterm: Support for Accelerated Biological Ageing.
title_fullStr Leukocyte Telomere Length in Young Adults Born Preterm: Support for Accelerated Biological Ageing.
title_full_unstemmed Leukocyte Telomere Length in Young Adults Born Preterm: Support for Accelerated Biological Ageing.
title_short Leukocyte Telomere Length in Young Adults Born Preterm: Support for Accelerated Biological Ageing.
title_sort leukocyte telomere length in young adults born preterm support for accelerated biological ageing
url https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0143951&type=printable
work_keys_str_mv AT carolinacjsmeets leukocytetelomerelengthinyoungadultsbornpretermsupportforacceleratedbiologicalageing
AT veryancodd leukocytetelomerelengthinyoungadultsbornpretermsupportforacceleratedbiologicalageing
AT nileshjsamani leukocytetelomerelengthinyoungadultsbornpretermsupportforacceleratedbiologicalageing
AT anitacshokkenkoelega leukocytetelomerelengthinyoungadultsbornpretermsupportforacceleratedbiologicalageing