Is telomere length one of the determinants of reproductive life span?

Abstract

The mechanism of final cessation of the reproductive life span has not been solved yet. It is generally assumed that the most important factor is ovarian follicular reserve. In ovaries at intrauterine period, a major factor that determines the number of the primordial follicle is the mitotic ability as well as the number of primordial germ cells, which migrate to gonadal ridge. The telomere length is one factor that determines the number of mitosis of the cell. The differences between the telomere lengths of same aged healthy women reflect the difference of the telomeres of the primordial germ cells at the intrauterine period. Women with long telomeres supposedly have had their primordial germ cells at the beginning of life with long telomeres. So, these cells should have had more mitotic division and more follicle numbers in the ovaries than the short ones. The aim of this study was to analyse the relation of the reproductive life span and telomere length. The telomere lengths of 37 women volunteers aged 50 years were measured by fiber FISH technique. A positive correlation was found between reproductive life span and the telomere length.

Analysis of telomere length in couples experiencing idiopathic recurrent pregnancy loss

“…It is known that telomere DNA shortening is associated with genomic instability and may play a role in development of aneuploidy commonly found in female germ cells and human embryos [42]. Telomere length has been both positively and negatively associated with different measures of reproductive aging and contradictory results are reported [16,43,44]. Telomere shortening, therefore, could explain many of the manifestations of reproductive senescence.…”

Leukocyte telomere length and age at menopause

“…The biological plausibility of the "telomere theory of reproductive senescence" 15,17,19 further argues for studies designed to validate the current results. Even in the absence of a known biological mechanism whereby telomere length directly influences age at menopause, due to synchrony leukocyte telomere length may still predict age at menopause or, more specifically, the probability of success of assisted reproductive technologies in specific patients.…”

“…In two smaller studies, both of which relied on the qPCR assay method, leukocyte telomere length was positively correlated with age at menopause. 15,16 Telomere length has more often been studied in women experiencing infertility, particularly those undergoing in vitro fertilization (IVF) or experiencing recurrent miscarriage. Longer average oocyte telomere length has been observed in women who become pregnant following IVF compared with those who fail to conceive, 43 and granulosa cell telomere length was shorter in women experiencing occult ovarian insufficiency compared with women experiencing male or tubal factor infertility.…”

“…Some studies have demonstrated an association between shorter leukocyte telomere length and earlier reproductive aging, including shorter reproductive lifespan and occult ovarian insufficiency [15][16][17] or poorer IVF outcomes, 18,19 while other studies have yielded negative or conflicting results. [20][21][22] We therefore sought to investigate the relationship between leukocyte telomere length and reproductive aging, as expressed by age at menopause in a cohort of women age 65 years and older.…”

Leukocyte and Skeletal Muscle Telomere Length and Body Composition in Monozygotic Twin Pairs Discordant for Long-term Hormone Replacement Therapy

“…longer duration of the reproductive 4 years, is associated with longer telomere length in leucocytes (Gray et al, 2014;D. C. Lee et al, 2005), peripheral mononuclear cells (Lin et al, 2011) and primordial germ cells (Aydos et al, 2005) and inversely associated with telomerase activity (Lin et al, 2011). Estrogen metabolism has also been suggested to be associated with telomere length through mechanisms linked to changes in body composition.…”